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Flights Grounded As Airport Power Goes Out

Friday: August 22, 2008

(Saipan Tribune)

Two Asia-bound flights from Saipan couldn’t leave for hours because of a power outage that shut down the island’s airport, the Saipan Tribune reports.

The 3:40 a.m. power outage, which affected the entire island, caught Asiana Airlines 608 at its departure gate with most of its passengers aboard the airliner. The flight’s 4 a.m. departure to South Korea was delayed for three hours. A Northwest Airlines flight to Japan, which was supposed to leave at 5:30 a.m., didn’t depart until 7 a.m.

“It was really a very terrible experience. It was a very difficult time for us, especially the passengers,” said Kwang Joong Kim, Asiana Airlines’ regional sales office general manager.

The Saipan airport has had power outage problems in the past. A few months ago, the power went out as international flights were approaching for landing. The airport’s two backup generators have been inoperative for months, and are not expected to be working until November of December.

http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?newsID=82756&cat=1