A minor explosion caused major headaches Tuesday morning in Concourse D at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, which was evacuated and closed for about an hour.
An overloaded electrical transformer in a maintenance area near Gate D-21 caused the blast, said US Airways spokeswoman Michelle Mohr.
Airport officials didn’t initially know the cause of the explosion and ordered the evacuation of the north side of Concourse D around 8:45 a.m.
“We prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” airport general manager Louis Miller said. “That is exactly how we approach that. We were not certain exactly what had happened.”
The evacuated passengers were sent to Concourse E while arriving aircraft were reassigned to alternative gates, said airport spokesman Reese McCranie. No injuries were reported.
The concourse was re-opened after fire crews gave the “all clear” around 10 a.m. Sporadic power outages on the concourse continued through the morning, however, causing flight delays of up to an hour, Miller said.
Two flights were cancelled and around 35 flights were impacted with an average delay of 30 minutes, McCranie said. Operations were fully restored by 11:30 a.m.
Southwest Airlines, which acquired AirTran Airways, said it had limited delays. Delta said it had no cancellations and expected no significant delays.
The exact cause of the mechanical failure is under investigation, and inspectors will be closely reviewing the system Tuesday evening, McCranie said.
—Staff photographer John Spink and staff writers Cailin O’Brien and Kelly Yamanouchi contributed to this report.
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