Posted on 12/18/2017 6:13:38 AM PST by logi_cal869
If a terrorist wanted to find the most vulnerable point in America’s airport network they could not have hoped for a better guide than what just happened at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson.
Just after 1 p.m. Sunday the whole airport, the world’s busiest, went dark. Thousands of flights were disrupted. For many hours nobody in authority attempted to explain—or even seemed able to explain—what had happened.
Just imagine this is a classic plan for phase one of a terrorist attack: Render the target blind. None of the defenses are operational. Thousands of people are trapped in restricted space without directions about how they can find an exit.
As chaos spreads nobody knows who turn to for information. The communications blackout is as complete as the power blackout.
Then I got to the end and the article's purpose became clear:
"In the first presidential debate of the 2016 campaign Donald Trump said—correctly—that flying into U.S. airports often felt like flying into a third-world country. He vowed to spend $500 billion on infrastructure, including our airports. What ever happened to that promise?
The Atlanta fiasco exposes both the emptiness of that pledge and the extremely dangerous vulnerability of the world’s most heavily traveled airport network."
Better:
“GEORGIA POWER COMPANY Your large (>500 kW) standby generator solution provider.
Even with our industry leading reliability... power interruptions are possible.. letting GPC design your standby system... we provide seamless integration into your business.
For many years we have earned your trust as a reliable energy partner Reliability and customer support you can rely on. A GPC engineered standby generator system will protect your business 24/7/365.”
The couldn’t have happened at a worse time for GPC. There is a PSC meeting Thursday on the fate of the expansion of Plant Vogle nuclear powerplant.
If only we would have had $4 Trillion to spend on shovel ready projects to fix stuff like this...
They should have bussed everyone to hotels...They're going to wind up giving them all their money back anyway.
Committed terrorists are only limited by their imaginations.
“As chaos spreads nobody knows who turn to for information.”
Turn to yourself. Everybody makes fun of the redneck with the flashlight constantly by his side - until the lights go out.
The author is trying to be Tom Clancy ?
I suspect - if any true journalism out there still exists - that this blackout will be linked to GPC’s green power initiatives, what they refer to as “carbon-free baseload generation for the state of Georgia.”
Bottom line, we’re all underwriting the failures of GPC, not just GPC ratepayers.
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/georgia-power-vogtle-nuclear-plant-hearings#gs.AQpf15I
The Atlanta fiasco exposes both the emptiness of that pledge...
I would point out to the petulant writer several things:
There are a lot of “in tune” folks here on FR but in the real world I’d be willing to say 70+% are ill prepared. And, that may be low. ;-)
Apparently the fire destroyed the link to the generators.
Fail safe systems fail by failing to fail safely.
That’s me. We were at Wall Drug last year during a thunder storm. The power went out and I pulled out my flashlight that I always carry with me on my belt. My wife says to me, “Only you!”.
Rah Rah. The power went out at the airport.
:-)
No problem...the air transit groups are lobbying for an increase in the departure fees right as we speak, from 4.50 to 9.00. IOW, each round trip will cost another $9 with the money to go toward airport infrastructure.
My local town unneeded air facility demonstrated recently how these fees are spent. Powered in part with an FAA grant to build a new terminal, the original idea of spending $1million became a 4+ million boondoggle. The final approval by the town commission was garnered when one of the counsel cretins said: it is not going to cost the city much, it is being paid for by the state and FAA.
Airy just in time systems are so beautiful... and so fragile...
Except for the ability to act feral in the general population, your estimate is 20-25% to low. I also realize with onset of age and infirmity, I am slipping towards that majority.
First hand report.
I was in KC yesterday leaving at 1230. Flight was cancelled at 6 PM and I was put on a flight to MSP where I was going to catch a midnight flight out of there to ATL.
Before leaving I asked about my checked bag - with medication in it. Was told it would automatically reroute. While waiting, I used the “track baggage” part of the Delta app and discovered that my bag was at MSP baggage claim. So I retrieved it, took it to ticketing, and checked it to Atlanta, then went back through security and boarded my new flight.
I arrived at MSP at 9 PM and found that my other flight had been cancelled and I was to go to another gate at 6 AM.
Slept on the floor at MSP because I was offered no other option, and at 5 AM I went to the gate and got a boarding pass that said my new flight was at 1 PM. I asked about my bag and they said it would be re-routed to the new flight.
So I sat down to wait - but I checked the app again to make sure. It said my bag was in storage at MSP. So I asked the agent and she called down and they said they would get it and bring it. I said - nah, I’ll go get it myself.
Went down there and found that the baggage services was closed. So who was she talking to? Waited until it opened around 6 and found my back in a locked storage room. This time, I took my meds out of it just in case it got “lost” again...
Then I took it to ticketing to check it and was told that the flight wasn’t leaving at 1, but at 630 AM. It seems that the boarding pass they gave me was for the previously delayed flight. They told me to run to security with it and said I could check it at the gate because I had to get there or I would miss the flight.
Arrived at TSA and was informed that my boarding pass was invalid. It was dated for the day before - because it was a delayed flight... They wouldn’t let me through because the boarding pass was expired - so I went *back* to ticketing to figure out what to do.
Once there, they were lost. They didn’t understand why I was given a boarding pass for the previous day and didn’t know what to do with me because in their eyes, it was my fault that I missed my flight. Apparently, I should not have gone back for my bag but should have just let it twist in the wind and hope it eventually got to Atlanta.
So - I’m sitting here in MSP right now on standby for a flight to Atlanta. I probably won’t leave until this afternoon even though I have been told twice that I was confirmed on a flight...
A: How can an airport as big as ATL not have adequate backup power systems - or any sort of contingency plan for a situation like this?
B: How can a company as big as Delta not have contingency plans for what they’re going to do if they lose ATL for an extended period?
C: Why would they issue boarding passes for the *previous* day knowing that as far as the TSA is concerned, it’s not a valid pass and if you go outside for *any* reason, you will not be allowed back through with that boarding pass?
D: If they’re going to issue a boarding pass for the previous day - shouldn’t they *tell* the customer that they did that and warn them not to go outside the security cordon?
It’s scary how little contingency planning there is in companies and airports as big as these. What are the rest of them like?
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