NYC subway SNAFU probably caused by someone turning it off accidentally, say reports
- Reference: 1631561414
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/09/13/nyc_subway_power_outage/
- Source link:
The [1]incident occurred on the evening of August 29, when a number of pieces of equipment stopped functioning in the New York City Transit Rail Control Center due to a power dip at around 2025 ET. It is thought the "emergency power off" button was then pressed in error during attempts by control center staff to bring the affected equipment back online again.
Independent engineering firms HDR
[2]PDF
and WSP[3]PDF
contributed to an investigation by Hochul, and the pair said there was a "strong possibility" the button had been pressed accidentally in the confusion following the power dip. Their suspicions in this regard were strengthened by the discovery that a plastic cover over the emergency power off button – designed to prevent exactly this eventuality – was missing.[4]
Every electrical system connected to one of the power distribution units at the center subsequently lost power from 2106 ET onward, causing all of the numbered lines and the L train on the city's incomprehensible and counter-intuitive subway network to stop working.
[5]
[6]
The breakdown affected over 80 individual trains across eight different lines.
[7]
New York's L train (click to enlarge)
Power was fully restored by 2230 ET, though the lines involved continued to be affected for several hours afterwards. The restoration of the service was delayed partly because passengers on two stopped trains chose to get out and walk along the track rather than wait for the problem to be fixed.
We at The Register hope for their own safety that these impatient individuals are never stuck in a failed train on [8]the Wuppertal Schwebebahn .
[9]Youtube Video
[10]
The blame has officially been attributed to human error, with the inability to restore power for 84 minutes put down to "inadequate organizational structure and a lack of guidelines," [11]according to the Associated Press.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority CEO Janno Lieber has promised it will reorganise how it manages and maintains key equipment in the control center in order to reduce the risk of a reoccurrence.
"It appears that a button was pushed accidentally that was not supposed to be pushed," Lieber [12]told Forbes , unflinchingly but obviously. "One: that can't happen, that somebody does something wrong because of lack of training or proper protocols. Two: there have to be interventions that prevent people from hitting the wrong button."
[13]
Presumably starting with a new cover for the switch. ®
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[1] https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-announces-findings-investigation-subway-power-outage
[2] https://www.governor.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2021-09/HDR%20_Report_210904_elect_failure_Public_Release_9821.pdf
[3] https://www.governor.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2021-09/WSP_Key_Findings_Summary-for_release.pdf
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YT-KIGZqB14ZHw27iWy4AgAAAE4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YT-KIGZqB14ZHw27iWy4AgAAAE4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YT-KIGZqB14ZHw27iWy4AgAAAE4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/09/13/shutterstock_l_train.jpg
[8] https://www.wuppertal.de/microsite/en/tourism/schwebebahn/schwebebahn.php
[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaDDd4Rixi4
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YT-KIGZqB14ZHw27iWy4AgAAAE4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://apnews.com/article/kathy-hochul-business-new-york-new-york-city-power-outages-bc73377e1bb1cd572dd8e67cf31fac2f
[12] https://forbesalert.com/news/usa/new-york/officials-it-appears-a-button-was-pushed-accidentally-that-shut-down-half-the-subway-system-last-month/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YT-KIGZqB14ZHw27iWy4AgAAAE4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
I sympathize with the walkers.
I'm insulin dependant diabetic. If I'm stuck somewhere for too long without food nor water, I'll need to go get some lest I suffer a blood sugar crash. If my choices are 1) sitting still & hoping someone turns the power back on, or 2) getting out & trying to walk somewhere that might have said food/water, my body will make that choice for me & have me walking in no time. I keep a snack on me just in case, but once the snack is gone, I'm back to the aforementioned choice. If any of the walkers were likewise in need of food/water/a bathroom & unable/unwilling to wait, I can fully understand why they did what they did. Dangerous yes, but you honestly don't GAF if your blood sugar starts to fall below critical levels. It's a "Get. Food. NOW." sensation that doesn't accept doing nothing as a viable option. =-/
Re: I sympathize with the walkers.
And I'm guessing that after an hour of being stuck in the train in just emergency lighting there was no announcement of what had happened and when it would be fixed.
Was this another 9/11 ? Had the office block above them just been blown up ? Was a flood about to trap them all - given the recent people dying in basements in New York.
Staying put requires you decide; an incompetent agency that did this to trap me here and the same incompetent agency that can't tell me what is happening is the agency that is going to rescue me if I stay put.
Re: I sympathize with the walkers.
It's the same agency you're trusting *not* to suddenly start the trains trundling down the track again while you're still on it.
Coming to next week's "Who Me" column...
Have you ever seen one of those columns reporting something that happened less than ten years ago?
It looks like someone has created a resume-writing event for themselves.
Blame the lowest-paid guy in the room
> "The blame has officially been attributed to human error"
Because of course it has... Was it human error that somebody stole the molly-guard on the button nobody is supposed to ever push? OR was that some deferred maintenance decision by management that really shouldn't have been deferred?
Nearest I've been to this was being stuck in a lift packed with women when the power failed at work. My friends at work all said things along the lines of "Wahay" and "Get in!" and other stuff like that, and wondered why I hadn't got at least one phone number.
There was a very good reason I didn't get anyone's phone number. I spent the whole time (nearly 2 hours) trying to keep one of the women, who was both claustrophobic and scared of lifts (she'd only taken this one because she was running late and her friend persuaded her) calm, or at least stop her having a panic attack. That meant getting everyone in the lift to turn on the lights on their phones (whether backlights or flashes) so we could at least see each other (even the emergency lighting failed), speaking to the woman calmly, trying to take her mind off things. This wasn't easy, as I am crap at small talk. It certainly meant not hitting on her.
When I got out (thanks to our security staff using the winch attachment on the lift), I found out that some workman had been digging up the road, and drilled through the electricity main.
Tip for next time.
Don't call the maintenance / building services number - call 911 / 999
The fire service will have you out in 15mins. As opposed to the end of the shift, when they are done with all the other jobs, once the next shift gets the service call, etc
And the fire service get to use their flashing lights and break things - which makes them very happy.
Wrong button pushing...
A good thing they don't have a "self destruct" or "warp speed" .