Flipped switch caused by human error causes massive NYC subway blackout

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NEW YORK With the push of a button, you can also deactivate a major metro transport system.

© Spencer Platt / Getty Images North America / TNS People use the New York subway on June 3, 2021 in New York City.

Officials said Friday that an outage last month that crippled subways and left passengers stranded was caused by a worker accidentally flipping a power switch.

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Passengers on the city’s numbered and lettered trains were stranded across the city on August 29 when a power outage left them stranded in trains in underground tunnels for more than an hour.

Rescue teams had to be dispatched to guide the frightened and frustrated passengers to safety.

Governor Kathy Hochul, in one of his first official acts, promised to get to the bottom of the failure.

New Yorkers deserve absolute confidence in a fully functioning subway system, and it is our duty to restore that confidence, Hochul said in a statement.

Engineers looked at the failure and ultimately blamed it on human error that appeared to have been easily preventable.

Reports revealed that the precipitating cause of the power outage at the New York City rail control center was the byproduct of a manually activated power-off switch on one of the power distribution units in the New York City. building, the Hochuls office said in a statement. Preliminary indications suggest that the emergency push button may have been accidentally pressed because a plastic shield that would prevent accidental activation was missing.

At the time, Hochul called the surge failure the perfect storm.

Engineers recommended a number of improvements, including more modern management equipment to monitor power distribution, as well as additional devices to strengthen existing circuits.

The blackout stopped trains on their tracks and triggered dangerous evacuations.

There were no injuries among the passengers of the 83 trains stopped on their tracks or of the five subway trains that stopped between stations.

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