Terminal 1 at JFK remains closed Friday after electrical outage

JFK Airport‘s Terminal 1 will remain closed Friday after a power outage caused more than 100 delays and over two dozen cancellations Thursday.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the outage was caused by an electrical panel failure, which resulted in a small fire. The agency said the fire was immediately extinguished.

International flights to and from JFK Airport were affected by the outage at Terminal 1. The electrical failure extended all the way to departure boards within Terminal 1, which had to be handwritten while engineers worked to troubleshoot the problem.

JFK Airport is encouraging travelers to check in with their carriers for individual flight statuses before coming to the airport.

As of this writing, 29 flights had been canceled and 23 more suffered delays at JFK Airport on Friday, according to flightaware.com, a flight tracking company.

Many travelers found themselves stranded at the airport yesterday, though some were sent to different terminals and other airports.

After two weeks in New York City, Smilla Herbst and and Jo Helsloot thought they were headed back home to Germany and Norway.

But on Thursday, “we got an email that our flight has been canceled due to a fire,” Hesloot said. “Basically they told us there’s nothing much they can do for us. Just try to get us on another flight.”

Herbst and Helsoot say Norse Airlines is paying for them to get a hotel while they wait.

Others were sent to nearby airports to catch a flight. But Liani Bautista’s family is headed back to Atlanta after they say their flight to Greece was canceled with no alternative.

“I was looking forward to seeing all the nice sunsets. The beautiful parks and just mostly the beauty of the nature,” said Bautista.

It is unclear when the terminal will reopen fully.