Power outage affects airport

Problem at National Grid substation disrupts air travelers

A problem with a nearby National Grid substation knocked out power to Albany International Airport for roughly two hours on Monday.

Airport spokesman Doug Myers said the problem started with a National Grid substation on Sand Creek Road.

The outage knocked out systems across the airport, including elevators, ticketing counters, baggage systems and the jet bridges used by passengers to deplane.

The issue was complicated when the airport’s emergency generator failed to kick in. Myers said staff were still troubleshooting the issue to find out why the generator didn’t turn on.

Three in-bound flights were impacted by the outage.

Myers said the airport used stairs to get passengers off the planes.

As of 6 p.m. the airport was still dealing with a backlog as airlines tried to catch up on baggage and processing passengers. That delay was expected to take another hour or so to clear, Myers said.

National Grid’s outage map showed a small outage affecting less than a dozen customers along Sand Creek Road. Power for those customers was expected to be restored by 11 p.m.