Turmoil at Rome's Fiumicino airport

(ANSA) - Rome, July 30 - Rome's Fiumicino international airport was hit with an electricity outage late Thursday morning that reportedly plunged it into a blackout.
    The brief blackout was caused by an electrical short-circuit, managers of the international airport said. "There have been a few disruptions but many operations have continued to function even during the blackout," manager ADR said in a statement. The blackout did not affect the air-traffic control towers so flights were able to land and take off, officials said. Control towers have a particular system supported by the ENAV civil aviation authority that allowed operations to continue, officials added. This marked the latest crisis at the airport, which was forced to temporarily close its runways on Wednesday by smoke blown in from a fire in a nearby pine forest. Delays and disruptions because of the smoke-blocked runways continued Thursday morning, with delays of up to three hours for some domestic and European flights. At least one low-cost carrier, Spain's Vueling, postponed a flight from Wednesday night to Thursday morning.
    Carabinieri military police intervened to restore order as some 100 passengers laid siege to the Vueling desk at Terminal 3. ENAV said it has called a meeting for August 6 with ADR, the Fiumicino airport manager, and Alitalia to discuss Wednesday's incidents. The incidents came as the airport was finally recovering from damages caused by a fire in Terminal 3 in early May that caused major disruptions for several weeks. The prosecutor's office in the nearby port city of Civitavecchia has opened an investigation into Wednesday's blaze. Forest rangers investigating the causes behind the fire that destroyed acres of a nature reserve and whose billowing smoke paralyzed Rome's Fiumicino airport said the fire started in a pile of rubbish. The trash in question was located at the edge of the road on Via del Pesce Luna, in a run-down area littered with both domestic and industrial refuse. Strong winds then spread sparks and flames to the nearby pine forest, called the Pineta di Coccia di Morto. It is still unclear whether the fire was due to arson or natural causes, forest rangers said.