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| Bristol Airport fire causes serious power failure | Bristol Airport fire causes serious power failure |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| About 2,000 people at Bristol Airport were left stranded after a small fire caused a serious power failure. | |
| Flights were grounded with some passengers saying the terminal was in darkness when they arrived earlier. | Flights were grounded with some passengers saying the terminal was in darkness when they arrived earlier. |
| The back-up generators failed after the fire at 03:00 BST, with the airport reporting "significant disruption and delays" at its busiest time of day. | The back-up generators failed after the fire at 03:00 BST, with the airport reporting "significant disruption and delays" at its busiest time of day. |
| Airport chief executive Robert Sinclair said he hoped the operation systems would be back to normal by mid-morning. | Airport chief executive Robert Sinclair said he hoped the operation systems would be back to normal by mid-morning. |
| 'Slow progress' | |
| One of the ongoing issues is the failure of the airport's baggage belt system, meaning luggage has to be processed manually. | |
| "Three flights have departed unfortunately without bags - bags will follow as soon as possible," said spokesman James Gore. | |
| "A number of other flights are boarding having had the bags dropped and loaded manually. | |
| "We are trying to process as much as we can manually but it is much slower progress than it normally would be." | |
| Paul Raymond, who is flying to Spain, said he arrived at 03:10 BST and heard the power had gone off shortly before. | Paul Raymond, who is flying to Spain, said he arrived at 03:10 BST and heard the power had gone off shortly before. |
| "For a short time they were telling people just to leave the terminal building," he said. | "For a short time they were telling people just to leave the terminal building," he said. |
| "There was nothing - no computers, no security - nothing is operating at all." | "There was nothing - no computers, no security - nothing is operating at all." |
| The fire happened in a distribution panel, officials said, and the failure of the airport's back-up generator led to a complete loss of power in the terminal. | The fire happened in a distribution panel, officials said, and the failure of the airport's back-up generator led to a complete loss of power in the terminal. |
| Three hours later the power was partially restored. | Three hours later the power was partially restored. |
| A major operation is currently in place to clear the backlog of flights which had been grounded. | A major operation is currently in place to clear the backlog of flights which had been grounded. |
| Airport chief executive Robert Sinclair said it was a "fluid situation" but he hoped the system would be fully back to normal within two to three hours. | Airport chief executive Robert Sinclair said it was a "fluid situation" but he hoped the system would be fully back to normal within two to three hours. |
| "Clearly I'd like to apologise to all of our passengers that have been caught up in this disruption," he said. | "Clearly I'd like to apologise to all of our passengers that have been caught up in this disruption," he said. |
| Passenger Alistair Barclay, from Taunton in Somerset, was due to fly to Faro but arrived at 04:30 BST to find he was one of the thousands left stranded. | Passenger Alistair Barclay, from Taunton in Somerset, was due to fly to Faro but arrived at 04:30 BST to find he was one of the thousands left stranded. |
| "It is just one of those things," he said. | "It is just one of those things," he said. |
| "No-one's fault. A fire in the basement apparently so you've got to go with the flow." | "No-one's fault. A fire in the basement apparently so you've got to go with the flow." |
| Were you affected by the power failure? Do you have any information you would like to share? Please send us your comments and photos. You can email us at haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject line 'Bristol Airport'. | |
| Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here. | |
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