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London's Heathrow Airport announces complete shutdown due to power outage
- viraptor 2y agoIt looks like there's a fair bit of redundancy there https://www.ukpowernetworksservices.co.uk/case-studies/heathrow-airport-terminal-2/ https://www.ukpowernetworksservices.co.uk/case-studies/heath... Sounds weird that one substation going down would close everything.
- rich_sasha 2y agoLiterally just guessing: that substation is on the train route to central London, which is the main public transport connection in and out of Heathrow. Indeed the Elizabeth tube line is suspended on the Heathrow branch. So perhaps the core issue isn't inability of the airport to operate, but of people to get in and out.
- ajb 2y agoI doubt they would suspend flights for that. Heathrow is used by people from all over South England, not just London, so a good proportion of customers come by car. Not to mention the people doing transits. Also TFL has a stock of buses which they use if a rail line goes down.
- fredoralive 2y agoThe Piccadilly line isn't noted as suspended, presumably it has its own electricity feed, so there are even still trains you could get.
- gambiting 2y agoAlso it's not like Heathrow is on an island, in the worst case you could get everyone out by buses.
- supernova87a 2y agoLights are out in the terminals at LHR. https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cly24zvvwxlt https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cly24zvvwxlt
- Symbiote 2y agoI think it's likely the Elizabeth Line branch is suspended because the stations are closed, and the stations are closed because there's no power to the buildings.
- seabass-labrax 2y agoThe Elizabeth line is fully electrified, so why wouldn't the issue be power to the trains themselves rather than the stations?
- Symbiote 2y agoOther trains are running on the main line through the area. It's 25kV electrification, there's plenty of distance between feeder substations. National Rail say [1] "An unadvertised shuttle service is running from Heathrow Terminals to London Paddington to ensure customers and colleagues can leave the airport" so trains can and are running, they just don't want flight passengers to go to the airport. [1] https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service-disruptions/heathrow-airport-20250321/ https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service-disruptions/heathrow-...
- seabass-labrax 2y agoAh, thanks, that makes sense.
- fredoralive 2y agoUK Power Networks are the local network operator for London and the South East. The substation that has gone boom is a National Grid one, so it's presumably affecting things upstream of local substations. I'm surprised there's a single point of failure at this level though, you'd think Heathrow would be considered important enough to have multiple feeds at a national grid level.
- manarth 2y agoThe substations decribed in the power network case study above are for local distribution – 33kV stepping down to 11kV (×2) and 11kV to 415V (x12). The substation on fire (North Hyde) is a 275kV major distribution substation. That's a fairly significant distribution loss in itself (not just Heathrow but also 16,000 homes), and rebalancing the distribution will need careful coordination – flipping the switch on a load the size of Heathrow would then imbalance the network for the new distribution supply site.
- traceroute66 2y ago> not just Heathrow but also 16,000 homes You are off by a large number. More like 62,000 customers affected (although "only" 4,800 are actually without power right now)[1]. Also that area is more than just "homes". There is a lot of heavy elecrical load commercial stuff going on in that area too. [1]https://powertrack.ssen.co.uk/powertrack#QQ0573 https://powertrack.ssen.co.uk/powertrack#QQ0573
- Tempest1981 2y ago16,000 homes * 4 people per home = 64,000 customers Could that explain it?
- churchturing 2y agoBritain is not doing so strong economically, but we are not at the point of having the kids chip in for the electricity bill yet
- manarth 2y agoSpeak for yourself, if mine don't bring in £50 a week each from their car-wash, it's 3 days in the cell in the basement on bread and water. For all of them. They're learning the importance of contributing.
- DeathArrow 2y agoThey didn't have enough solar panels on the roof?
- blitzar 2y agoIt would be too unsightly to put solar panels on those large flat shed roofs.
- thinkingemote 2y agoYou joke but make a good point, most major installations have backup diesel powered generators to provide power for a certain limited but generous time. What happened with Heathrows generators? Did they kick in? Do they have any? Edits: yes they did kick in as normal https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/heathrow-ed-miliband-national-grid-london-emergency-services-b1218124.html https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/heathrow-ed-miliband-nati... Note that usually backup generators are only for essentials like air traffic control, landing lights, and operating emergency stuff.
- xrayarx 2y agoThat’s what I was wondering. Strange, that they didn’t plan to run the whole airport. Compared to construction costs and costs of disruption…
- blindriver 2y agoSeems like a national security issue if there’s a single point of failure a few miles away that can take down one of Europe’s largest airports and global air travel.
- rich_sasha 2y agoThis was my first thought. My second thought is, UK infra is crumbling so bad, this is really most likely just business as usual...
- gambiting 2y agoIt's all been privatized and they don't care about anything other than maintaing profits so of course we're seeing the effects now. It's also why every single water provider in the UK is dumping raw sewage into our rivers and when the government tries to make them fix it they cry about how that will eat into their profits and how it's unfair.
- blitzar 2y agoGetting bailed out by the government because you ran it into the ground is the plan when you buy one of these assets.
- ta1243 2y agoPrivitise the profits, socialise the losses. Makes perfect sense. Also makes sense to pay for enough brainwashing to enable this.
- Devilspawn6666 2y agoNope... The UK electricity grid is nationalised - it's run by the National Energy System Operator (NESO).
- gambiting 2y agoThe top level grid - yes. Regional operators are private. https://weownit.org.uk/public-ownership/energy https://weownit.org.uk/public-ownership/energy
- gambiting 2y agoWell....I have a flight to LHR tomorrow morning, I'm guessing I should start looking at alternatives now :P
- zknill 2y agoIANAL but, you should be in contact with your airline about your specific flight. You are entitled to be re-booked on the next available flight or get a refund. If you take a refund the airline has no obligation to you anymore. You might find after taking a refund, the price of an equivalent flight is now much more.
- gambiting 2y agoI know - but I'm going to a concert in London, if the flight isn't going at its original time then there's no point going. I'll just take a refund and drive instead, but so far it looks like flights will operate as normal tomorrow.
- maest 2y agoIs there going to be a replacement bus service for the flights?
- teeray 2y agoBoston can send the duck boats
- FartyMcFarter 2y agoYes, Airbus to be specific.
- Crosseye_Jack 2y agoI know your joking, but some flights have been diverted to Paris where the airlines are bussing passengers to London! So yeah, there kinda is a replacement bus service for some flights! > https://thewest.com.au/travel/perth-to-london-flight-diverted-to-paris-as-heathrow-airport-thrown-into-chaos-due-to-power-outages-c-18115101 https://thewest.com.au/travel/perth-to-london-flight-diverte... > Perth Qantas customers who had their flights diverted from London to Paris after a massive power outage at Heathrow Airport will be put on buses to take them to take them to their final destination.
- yakshaving_jgt 2y agoIf this wasn't executed by the FSB, then they're at least furiously taking notes.
- oncallthrow 2y agohttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg5dg4p2l0o https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg5dg4p2l0o "Counter-terror officers from the Metropolitan Police are leading the investigation into a major fire that has closed Heathrow Airport"
- 4587qgVAc 2y agoPerhaps there should be an additional investigation why old transformers aren't replaced. The issue is known (275kV, just like the one in Heathrow): https://electranet.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/15449-PACR-Managing-the-Risk-of-275-kV-Current-Transformer-Failure-2024-2028.pdf https://electranet.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/15449-P...
- jakozaur 2y agoThis is way worse due to London airports' lack of spare capacity. They should have built Thames Estuary Airport a long time ago.
- oncallthrow 2y agoYes, unfortunately NIMBYs have been blocking any iota of progress in this area for around 40 years
- pjc50 2y agoThat and the sunken ship full of explosives, yes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Richard_Montgomery#/media/File:Thames_Estuary_airports_proposed_locations_SS_Richard_Montgomery.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Richard_Montgomery#/media/F...
- cmsj 2y agoI can think of a very quick way to make those explosives safe!
- shatnersbassoon 2y agoIt's enough explosive to cause a 2m high tsunami in the estuary, iirc. Not an option.
- bpodgursky 2y agoThat is absolutely an option which other sane nations would consider. Issue a Tsunami warning and get everyone off the beach for an hour Sunday at 3am.
- HeatrayEnjoyer 2y agoIt would damage buildings and shatter every window in town. Look up videos of the Beirut explosion to gain a sense of the amount of energy involved. Even with water as a shield the force and shockwave will still inflict harm.
- MutantSputnik 2y agoi wonder who would have the intelligence & motivation
- lo_fye 2y agoIs the power outage due to the fire? If so, what was the fire due to? How far back do we need to go on this? the Big Bang?
- psychlops 2y agoIf we've learned anything from the California fires, the culprit will be global warming.
- belter 2y agoOld oil transformer. The insulation breaks down in old transformers. It happens sometimes. No need to involve Russian conspiracy theories at this point in time... :-) "How to Prevent Substation Fires": https://www.oilbarriers.com/blog/suppress-substation-fires/ https://www.oilbarriers.com/blog/suppress-substation-fires/ https://youtu.be/2np745xyQ7o https://youtu.be/2np745xyQ7o
- milleramp 2y agoProbably, but definitely check for bullet holes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalf_sniper_attack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalf_sniper_attack
- Calwestjobs 2y agojust check newspapers title pages in UK today.... https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70wylzyqw2o https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70wylzyqw2o
- sega_sai 2y agoIt could be an old transformer, but it is not known at this time.
- michh 2y agoFunny, how we're all suddenly privy to highly classified information. Yesterday, if you'd have publicly shared this one substation is enough to take down Heathrow for an entire day, you'd have been disappeared by the British spooks for sharing extremely sensitive information threatening national security and you'd probably end up behind bars for over a decade. Today, we all just know because it happened to catch fire, exposing the flaw.
- hypeatei 2y agoTaking out any power infrastructure is going to cause significant problems, no? I don't think that's a national secret in any country. I get it, all modern intelligence apparatus is draconian but this take doesn't really make sense IMO.
- michh 2y agoThere's "significant problems" and there's taking out *the* most important airport in the country. Yes, there are other airports but this one matters most. Both in terms of (inter)national perception and in terms of real damage to the economy. From an US perspective it'd be like taking out JFK, LAX and ATL at the same time. But even then, it doesn't really compare.
- chaps 2y agoWhat a weird take. Arresting someone for reporting a major security vulnerability is pretty shitty thing for a state to do. What you're suggesting is that that's not actually that bad. Same sort of logic that leads to people getting arrested for looking at HTML and reporting that it includes passwords.
- tremarley 2y agoThat’s what happened to Josh Renaud. Renaud discovered that Social Security numbers for teachers, administrators and counselors were visible in the HTML code of a public Missouri State Education website and reported it. Governor Mike Parson tried to file charges against him and labelled him as a criminal for doing so.
- 1970-01-01 2y agoBBC.com has much more details and answers (ofc) https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cly24zvvwxlt https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cly24zvvwxlt
- tigerlily 2y agoWhat does "(ofc)" mean?
- nikolas- 2y agoslang for "of course"
- tigerlily 2y agoNatch, I feared as much. I've been seeing it more and more lately. I've found it's hard for me to look at. I'd say more but I'm already wasting words.
- sjsdaiuasgdia 2y agoI wonder if anyone feels the same way about your use of "natch".
- stavros 2y agoI do!
- przemub 2y agoI needed to look up „natch” lol
- medstrom 2y agoWhy don't you tell us too? For anyone reading: it means "of course"
- bookofjoe 2y agoWow. Almost all the comments argue about whether this is a national security issue.
- hcs 2y ago[–]
- meristohm 2y agoIf you haven't already, consider quitting air travel altogether. This and quitting meat consumption (or significantly reducing either or both luxuries- I quit flying years ago, and I eat meat once a month or so as a delicous luxury) seem to be the two main ways we can reduce our individual carbon footprint, focus on which is a bit scammy by the industry heads who want to keep converting resources into money to swim in, so please also consider lobbying for stronger regulation of our collective carbon footprint. Public luxury (libraries, health care, bike lanes, public transportation, education from birth onward that isn't about preparing obedient workers for the mill but reinforcing the benefits of mutual aid and participatory democracy), private sufficiency (I have enough. I actually have more than enough, and have spent about fifteen years getting rid of physical and digital baggage that gets in the way of good relationships, with an exponential increase in recent years, leveling out again as I scrape the barrel for more to let go of). There are so many of us on this planet- believing the lie that we can all be wealthy (in capitalist terms) will accelerate boom-bust-quit, and I don't see the Moon or Mars working out very well. We can be wealthy in social-animal terms, though, by being kind and loving and reciprocal. It's not that simple, nor will it ever not be a messy, dynamic situation, but there's a beauty to that.
- ronsor 2y ago> If you haven't already, consider quitting air travel altogether. Most people travel by plane because it's the only way to reach their destination in a reasonable amount of time.
- Kwpolska 2y agoLet's start with corporations. You know, those that invented the term "carbon footprint" to redirect blame for climate change to consumers.
- joshuanapoli 2y agoIt's not the first time a major airport is down because of power failure, and other airports are working to address this type of vulnerability. > The power vulnerability for airports was never made more obvious and painful than in Atlanta seven years ago. An underground electrical system fire in late 2017 damaged two substations and caused a complete outage lasting nearly 12 hours at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport https://www.microgridknowledge.com/microgrids/article/55127597/ground-control-airports-focused-on-microgrids-and-resiliency-wtw-report-says https://www.microgridknowledge.com/microgrids/article/551275...
- traceroute66 2y ago> It's not the first time a major airport is down because of power failure, and other airports are working to address this type of vulnerability. To be fair, I'd probably be more interested to hear what major airports are doing to avoid a reoccurance of CrowdStrike-type scenarios. Which is perhaps a more likely re-occurence than loss of substation feeds.
- belter 2y ago"Selected Airports’ Efforts to Enhance Electrical Resilience": https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-23-105203.pdf https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-23-105203.pdf
- sss111 2y agoHeathrow's power outage is much worse than Atlanta's, this is really bad. Allow me to make my point: 1. UK’s has one major airport to get out of the country—Heathrow. Gatwick and that lot don’t carry the same weight. When Heathrow goes down, you’re proper stuck. Atlanta has DC, Miami right there. 2. UK allows transit visas, so half the people transiting can’t even step out the terminal, what do they do when the airport is closed? The US doesn’t allow that, everyone clears customs/passport control, so no ‘no man’s land’ limbo for stranded passengers. 3. Heathrow's outage is going to take 24 hours as of right now. That's twice Atlanta
- margalabargala 2y ago
- belter 2y agoAn Helicopter, has been running multiple 360 degrees rounds, around the whole perimeter of Heathrow for the last two hours or three hours. I wonder if they are looking for something or somebody and there is more to this story. (click on the helicopter icon to see previous runs): https://www.flightradar24.com/GINTV/3990e5fc https://www.flightradar24.com/GINTV/3990e5fc
- belter 2y agoFlights just resumed...first landing: https://www.flightradar24.com/BAW71SK/39910df8 https://www.flightradar24.com/BAW71SK/39910df8
- t0mas88 2y agoThat looks like a news reporting helicopter?
- Symbiote 2y agoIt's the BBC's news helicopter, according to the first result of a Google search. It's very easy to make these searches, and not invent conspiratorial nonsense.
- FartyMcFarter 2y agoIf it was a police helicopter you wouldn't see it on flightradar24.
- lofaszvanitt 2y agoRemove SPOF, build two transformer stations.