The busiest airport in the world has been shut down by a catastrophic power outage

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport suffered a catastrophic power outage on Sunday.
The outage is believed to have been caused by a fire at an underground Georgia Power facility.
Power is expected to be restored by midnight local time.
More than 700 flights have been canceled as a result of the outage.

Flight operations at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport have grounded to a halt after a suffering a massive power outage around 1 pm local time on Sunday.

The bustling airport that handles an average of more than 280,000 travelers a day has been plunged into pitch black darkness.

Footage captured by WSB-TV in Atlanta show airport officials making their way through darkened terminal buildings with only flashlights to guide them.

Georgia Power, the airport's utility provider, is on the scene and working to restore power by midnight tonight, the company said in a statement.

The company believes the outage was the result of a fire that caused extensive damage to one of its underground electrical facilities. No employees or passengers were in danger at any time, Georgia Power said.

Consequently, the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a ground stop for all aircraft bound for Atlanta. This means that planes headed for the airport will be held at their point of origination. While the control tower in Atlanta is operational, departing flights are delayed due to the power outage in the terminal, the FAA said in a statement.

Flights already en route to Atlanta have been diverted to alternate airports.

Delta Air Lines has, thus far, canceled more than 900 flights on Sunday as a result of the outage and is working to deplane those stuck on board its aircraft at the airport. The airline expects to cancel another 300 flights on Monday. Atlanta is Delta's home base from which it operates more than 1,000 departures a day to more than 200 destinations.

In a statement, the airline said:

Southwest, Atlanta's second largest tenant, has canceled all of its remaining flights into and out of the airport on Sunday. American, United, and JetBlue have also canceled all inbound and outbound Atlanta flights, WSB-TV reported.

Channel 2's @NefertitiWSB r... @ WSB-TV

For passengers affected by the power outage, Delta, Southwest, JetBlue, and United are offering travel waivers that will allow you to rebook on a later flight.

Here's what it looks like at the airport:

WSBTV reports Due to power ... @ #emo#Channel 1 Atlanta

Atlanta Airport power outag... @ Newsweek

All flights canceled after ... @ AJC

The busiest airport in the world has been shut down by a catastrophic power outage

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