Overheating of Computer System Causes Chaos in Sydney Airport

An overheated computer backup battery system resulted in smoke which spread through the air conditioning caused midday chaos at the Sydney Airport. Staff had to be evacuated out of the air traffic control tower and flights were grounded for an hour.

Air Services Australia (ASA) said by 12.30pm, aircraft were being allowed to land, but at a slower rate. The staff was also cleared to return to the Tower. A captain of one Virgin Australia flight told passengers that every aircraft that was not in the air had been told to stay on the ground. This spiraled into a significant delay and havoc in neighboring airports of Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide etc.

An official statement said the disruption occurred at a quieter part of the day. "However, there may be some delays for customers of up to two hours as all airlines work to get back to their normal schedules."