Gross negligence behind July power outage at Cairo airport

CAIRO – 15 November 2017: Investigations conducted by the Administrative Prosecution showed that gross negligence was behind the power outage that hit Cairo Airport in July.

Cairo Airport plunged into darkness on July 27 which caused disruption of flight schedules and a total blackout in essential terminal for over an hour.

Investigations blamed on-duty technicians and engineers for the failure of the battery charger at the main power station feeding the control board of Terminal 3, a move that made standby generators at the airport unable to operate automatically after the blackout of electricity, said Counselor Mohamed Samir, spokesman for the Administrative Prosecution, in a statement.

The battery charger sent warning sounds showing it was out of service but technicians of both the morning and night shifts failed to take any action to repair it, according to the investigations.

Investigations also held them responsible for not reporting about the outdated batteries that were installed in 2006 and never changed since.