Bergstrom International Airport
A power outage in the Barbara Jordan Terminal was confirmed by an airport social media post. Teams have been sent to the airport to look into the reason for the outage. Backup generators started operating before 6:30 a.m. and have only partially restored power.
As of 5:45 a.m., no planes are scheduled to take off until engineers try to determine what caused the blackout and fix it. The airport is requesting that anyone with a flight on Wednesday morning verify the status of their travel because the time likely change.
The airport terminal has now encountered two problems in the past month. On August 10, a false fire alarm in Barbara Jordan Terminal forced everyone inside to leave. The airport then provided an explanation, stating that the fire alarm was triggered by a water main break on the airport apron, or the area where planes are parked while people board and disembark. All evacuated passengers had to enter the terminal again and go through security screening again.
The Labor Day vacation saw thousands of people fly, making this past Friday the second-busiest day in airport history in Austin. According to airport officials, 34,611 departing passengers in total were counted on that day.
More About Bergstrom International Airport
IATA: AUS, ICAO: KAUS, FAA LID: AUS, formerly BSM, also known as Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, is a Class C international airport in Austin, Texas, United States, serving the Greater Austin metropolitan region. It is situated about 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Downtown Austin, contains four helipads, and encompasses 4,242 acres (1,717 ha).
On May 23, 1999, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport welcomed passengers with a 12,250-foot (3,730-meter) runway, one of the country's longest for commercial use. Initially, the Barbara Jordan passenger terminal was intended to be an 18-gate building with a little bit more than 500,000 square feet of space (46,000 m2). For a total area of 660,000 sqft, ABIA was expanded during construction to include 24 contact gates with jet bridges (called Gate 2-Gate 25) and one gate without a jet bridge (designated Gate 1).
The primary terminal of the airport, the Barbara Jordan Terminal, has a total of 34 gates, six of which may accommodate international aircraft. With the exception of two, all of the terminal's restaurants and food outlets are situated inside the protected gate sections. In keeping with Austin's designation as "The Live Music Capital of the World," the terminal also features a live music stage where regional bands perform.
Accidents and Incidents
- On March 1, 2002, a Beechcraft A36 Bonanza with the registration number N7236L crashed and burned out on the grounds of the airport after the pilot started a missed approach during an instrument landing system (ILS) approach in heavy weather. The pilot and one other passenger died, and the plane was destroyed. The cause of the incident was "the stall was caused by the pilot's inability to maintain airspeed. The low ceiling, the fog, and the unforeseen weather all played a part."
- 7th of December, 2009 During an ILS approach in poor visibility, a Piper PA-46-500TP with the registration number N600YE collided with the ground in Mendoza, Texas, severely damaging the craft and killing the pilot and one passenger. The cause of the incident was "Due to his spatial disorientation, the pilot lost control of the aircraft. The timing and sequence of the air traffic controller's orders contributed to the pilot's spatial disorientation. Another factor might have been the pilot's operation of the aircraft while under the influence of medicine."
- May 7, 2020: A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 carrying Flight 1392 struck and killed a male adult pedestrian who had trespassed on the airport's runway 17R.
