- A mysterious power failure at Logan Airport that delayed
dozens of flights for more than five hours has still not been explained
- six days later.
-
- Airport officials insist airline security was not
compromised
during the blackout Monday at Logan International's Terminal E, but backup
electrical systems failed to kick in as they are programmed under such
circumstances.
-
- Logan is the airport from which two of the Sept. 11
hijacked
planes originated. Officials promised a full report on the blackout
Wednesday.
It has still not been issued. "We're trying to figure out exactly
what happened and why it happened," said Phil Orlandella, Massport
spokesman, last week.
-
- The power outage was caused by an explosion at Massport's
Porter Street electric substation in East Boston around 2:15 p.m. Monday,
officials said. The blast shut down the terminal's security screening
systems
and other equipment. Power was restored around 7:10 p.m.
-
- During the outage, federal security screeners had to
search luggage and passengers by hand while canine screeners were brought
in to sniff for explosives.
-
- One terrorism specialist said yesterday the failure of
the backup systems at Logan is a sign that federal security officials have
not created a foolproof system.
-
- "That [electrical] system should work, and that
backup system should work," said Juval Aviv, president of Interfor,
an international investigative and intelligence-gathering firm. Aviv also
serves as a special consultant to the U.S. Congress on issues of
terrorism.
-
- "After 9/11, Homeland Security promised that those
basic security systems are now under full control and will function,"
Aviv told the Boston Globe. "For the system to fail and for the backup
at the same time, it's totally unprofessional."
-
- © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.
- http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=39379
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