Stansted Airport Fuel System Struck By Lightning, Causing Flight Cancellations And Delays

London Stansted Airport in the United Kingdom was experiencing a massive number of flight delays and cancellations after a lightning strike knocked out its aircraft fueling system, leaving planes unable to refuel.

The following statement was posted on the Stansted Airport’s Twitter page:

“Due to an earlier lightning strike, the aircraft fuelling system was unavailable for a period this morning. Engineers have been on site and have now restored the system, however, flights may still be subject to diversion, delay or cancellation. We apologize for the inconvenience and advise all passengers to check with their airlines for their latest flight updates.”

Having no clear confirmation from the authorities as to when the issues will be resolved and the airport fully operational, chaos ensued among passengers waiting to board their respective flights.

Steve Childs, who was traveling to Madrid with his wife and daughter to see his father during the half-term break, told BBC his Ryanair flight was due for 8:25 a.m. GMT (4:25 a.m. EDT) but was delayed indefinitely. He added the most frustrating past was the lack of communications from airport officials regarding flight information.

"There have been no announcements," he said. “Flights which were due to leave at 06:00 [GMT] still haven't left. We are in the middle of the departure hall. Fortunately we have seats, but there are lots of people without."

According to Mark Lobel, another passenger who was stuck at the airport, there was only a single fueling truck available, attempting to fuel as many aircraft as possible.

The unprecedented delay meant planes were landing on the airport’s tarmac with more frequency than flights were taking off, which was creating a backlog. “As a consequence we’re told the airport may become too full for planes to land at,” Lobel said in a tweet.

Other travelers, who were losing patience, also took to Twitter to vent their anger.

“@Ryanair canceling many flights at Stansted airport... so upsetting to have my daughter's birthday gift being ruined...” wrote social media user Caue Cavallaro, while another user, Cathy Winston tweeted: “Top marks to Stansted airport. There is NO fuel for any planes this morning... And no word on when it might turn up. So we're all sitting on the plane waiting waiting waiting...”

Here are a few other tweets from passengers forced to wait at Stansted Airport:

The Met Office in the United Kingdom said there were between 15,000 and 20,000 lightning strikes across the country overnight.

"Temperatures overnight did not fall much below 15 or 16 degrees, for the end of May that's a pretty hot and humid night so everything was primed,” it said, Sky News reported. “We had some storms coming in from northern France and some building up in the Channel and they sort of spread out and have been working their way in.”

"It looks like there just one huge area of thundery showers that worked across London just before midnight,” it added.