Belgian air traffic ground to a halt on Wednesday, after a power surge took out the main traffic control system.
Thousands of passengers at Brussels Airport were affected by the time flights began taking off again in the afternoon. Travelers at the airport described the scene as chaotic.
Chaos at Brussels airport. Flights grounded. On the plane, off the plane. No idea what's going on-with @RobWilmot pic.twitter.com/tRB7S9z2kR— Nick Wright (@nickjwright) May 27, 2015
Some passengers were left sitting in their planes on the runway for hours, while others landed in neighboring countries, or missed international connections. Hundreds thronged the hallways of the airport looking for information or new tickets.
Dominique Dehaene of Belgocontrol, the agency in charge of air traffic safety in Belgian airspace, said a sudden power surge had taken out the main air traffic control system, and blew the switches to the emergency generators. "We were twice unlucky," he said.
Hundreds of flights were canceled, and dozens were sent to neighboring airports in Germany, France and the Netherlands.
PHOTO Close to chaos inside terminal at @BrusselsAirport due to airspace closed (@TeleBXLActu) http://t.co/jG2NfZLwT1 pic.twitter.com/NAK1w1lQgw— AirLive.net (@airlivenet) May 27, 2015
Good times @BrusselsAirport pic.twitter.com/pJ7gHPNvvj— Danny Kemp (@dannyctkemp) May 27, 2015
Looking good in arrivals too pic.twitter.com/Yr8H4bXhoz— Danny Kemp (@dannyctkemp) May 27, 2015
Flights that were passing at high altitudes through Belgian airspace were fortunately unaffected. These types of flights are not dependent on the country's air traffic control system, and are instead controlled by the continent-wide Eurocontrol agency.
To bring systems back online, Belgocontrol had to completely restart them, according to Eurocontrol. However, Brussels Airport announced on Twitter that delays will likely continue to have an impact through Thursday.
Latest situation: Belgocontrol restarting systems but it will all take some time pic.twitter.com/Nxp6DhZTMY— EUROCONTROL (@eurocontrol) May 27, 2015
Air traffic operations are gradually restarting. Delays & cancellations still possible. Flights will likely be impacted tomorrow as well.— Brussels Airport (@BrusselsAirport) May 27, 2015
Passengers were not amused.
#brusselsairport inform your freaking passengers of what to do! This is insane!!! pic.twitter.com/8dc7vOToTr— Tiany Kiriloff (@BelmodoTiany) May 27, 2015
Someone at the gate, finally, but: leave me alone and no questions! #brusselsairport #delay pic.twitter.com/a0OcRTLWPH— gabriela schellekens (@gaabstra) May 27, 2015
#brusselsairport just kill me now— Tore Keller (@ToreKeller) May 27, 2015
Travelers flying to or from the region Thursday should check the status of their flight with their airline.
For its part, Brussels Airlines tried to make lemonade out of lemons by announcing a city-sightseeing tour for travelers who suddenly found themselves stuck.
Impacted by the #Belgocontrol issues and stuck in @BrusselsAirport? At 15h we organize a sightseeing tour of Brussels, leaves at bus level 0— Brussels Airlines (@FlyingBrussels) May 27, 2015
Additional reporting by The Associated Press