St Kitts Airport loses power

Passengers were delayed at St. Kitts Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport on Wednesday due to a power cut caused by the commissioning of a new transfer switch, which is used to switch from the power grid to back up power. The new switch is thought to have tripped when it was turned on, and necessary repairs from the resulting incident delayed the restoration of power.
The Air and Sea Ports Authority (SCASPA) sent a press release apologizing for the inconvenience caused by the power outage.
"Work started on May 7, 2013 to commission a new transfer switch to replace the existing one, however, due to unforeseen challenges the repairing exercise has taken longer than expected. SCASPA regrets any inconvenience which this interruption in electricity supply has caused, and extends assurances of returned service as soon as possible."
Airline, Immigration and airport staff were forced to processing hundreds of travelers manually using cell phones to call stations in other islands and a make-shift system hooked up to a backup generator.
American staff had to process over 225 passengers on two flights just hours apart. Without landlines, staff used their personal cell phones to contact stations in other territories to check in passengers, while others contacted the T.S.A. to process travellers through the US Department of Homeland Security system. Staff reportedly also used a fax machine at the Control Tower on the far side of the airport compound. As scanners and x-ray equipment were down, all checked luggage had to be searched manually. The process took some three hours.