Flight ops hit as power cut continues to plague airport

Kolkata: Departures from Kolkata airport were severely disrupted on Friday morning as the power outage that had occurred the previous evening — following a cable fault — continued to plague critical operations in the terminal building. While more than 30 flights were delayed by 30 to 60 minutes, many planes took off without the baggage, leaving hundreds of passengers fretting after reaching their destinations.
Even as engineers and workmen from the airport, Metro Railway and power utility CESC struggled to repair the fault caused by the accidental severing of six high-tension power cables, the frequent tripping of heavy-duty backup generators added to the woes and frustrated attempts to normalize operations. An airline official said the worst period was between 7.30am and 10.30am on Friday when the diesel generator sets supplying power to the terminal tripped seven times. Aerobridges, baggage scanning and loading system, elevators and escalators stopped functioning and the central air-conditioning system was shut off since Thursday evening.