Power outage stops Super Bowl an 'abnormality' - NFL - SI.com
Unsure of the initial problem, officials blamed an "abnormality" in the power system for the partial outage. Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
The biggest game of the year was halted for 34 minutes because of a power outage, plunging parts of the Superdome into darkness and leaving TV viewers with no football and no explanation why.
The Baltimore Ravens were leading the San Francisco 49ers 28-6 when most of the lights in the 73,000-seat building went out with 13:22 left in the third quarter Sunday night.
About two hours after the game, won by the Ravens in a 34-31 thriller, officials revealed that an "abnormality" in the power system triggered an automatic shutdown, forcing backup systems to kick in. But they weren't sure what caused the initial problem.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu called the power outage "an unfortunate moment in what has been an otherwise shining Super Bowl week for the city of New Orleans."
"In the coming days, I expect a full after-action report from all parties involved," he said.
Auxiliary power kept the playing field from going totally dark, but escalators stopped working, credit-card machines shut down, and the concourses were only illuminated by small banks of lights tied in to emergency service.
Most fans seemed to take the outage in stride, even starting up the wave to pass the time.
"So we had to spend 30 minutes in the dark? That was just more time for fans to refill their drinks," said Amanda Black of Columbus, Miss.
A joint statement from Entergy New Orleans, which provides power to the stadium, and Superdome operator SMG shed some light on the chain of events, which apparently started at the spot where Entergy feeds power into the stadium's lines. The problem occurred shortly after Beyonce put on a halftime show that featured extravagant lighting and video effects.
"A piece of equipment that is designed to monitor electrical load sensed an abnormality in the system," the statement said. "Once the issue was detected, the sensing equipment operated as designed and opened a breaker, causing power to be partially cut to the Superdome in order to isolate the issue. ... Entergy and SMG will continue to investigate the root cause of the abnormality."
The FBI quickly ruled out terrorism, and the New Orleans Fire Department dismissed reports that a fire might have been the cause.
Auxiliary power kept the playing field and concourses from going totally dark.
On the CBS broadcast, play-by-play announcers Jim Nantz and Phil Simms went silent. Sideline reporter Steve Tasker announced to viewers a "click of the lights" as the problem. Later, the halftime crew anchored by host James Brown returned to fill the time with football analysis. Brown said a power surge caused the outage.
"We lost all power up here at the press box level," Nantz said after power was restored. He and Simms were off the air for most of the outage.
The failure occurred shortly after Jacoby Jones returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a 108-yard touchdown, the longest play in Super Bowl history and pushing the Ravens to a commanding lead. But when play resumed, the momentum totally changed.
The Niners scored two straight touchdowns and nearly pulled off a game-winning drive in the closing minutes. They had first down inside the Ravens 10, but Baltimore kept them out of the end zone to preserve the victory.
The blackout, it turned out, became more of a footnote than a spark to what would have been the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history.
"It just took us longer to lose," moaned San Francisco linebacker Ahmad Brooks.
Power Outage due to "Smell of Gas" in Elevator with a possible fire.
"The New Orleans fire department was called to investigate a smell of gas near the Superdome's elevator No. 8, New Orleans police Sgt. T.J. St. Pierre said. There was no fire, police said, but the elevator was stalled on the seventh floor. The fire department tried to pry open the elevator from the basement, and it resumed operation after the power returned." - espn.go.com
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Updated: February 3, 2013, 11:08 PM ET
ESPN.com news servicesRavens Win Second Super Bowl
Police officials said too much electricity was being pumped into the 73,000-seat Superdome, causing a surge, and it took time to return power to the building.
Auxiliary power kept the playing field from going totally dark, but escalators stopped working and the concourses were only illuminated by small banks of lights tied in to emergency service.
Engineers for the Superdome and power company Entergy New Orleans are investigating what caused the surge "so it doesn't happen again," said Chad Wilken, operations manager at the Superdome.
AP Photo/Marcio Sanchez The majority of lights went out in the Superdome during the Super Bowl, causing a 34-minute delay.
"Power has been restored," said Eric Eagan, a Superdome spokesman. "We sincerely apologize for the incident."
The New Orleans fire department was called to investigate a smell of gas near the Superdome's elevator No. 8, New Orleans police Sgt. T.J. St. Pierre said. There was no fire, police said, but the elevator was stalled on the seventh floor. The fire department tried to pry open the elevator from the basement, and it resumed operation after the power returned.
"Stadium authorities are investigating the cause of the power outage," the NFL said in a statement. "We will have information as it becomes available."
Philip Allison, a spokesman for Entergy New Orleans, said power had been flowing into the stadium before the lights failed.
"All of our distribution and transmission feeds going into the Superdome were operating as expected," Allison said.
The majority of lights failed shortly after Jacoby Jones returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown.
SportsNation: Reaction to power outage
Athletes took to Twitter to talk about the power outage that caused a 34-minute delay at the Super Bowl. • Your take?
The teams remained on the field, with players stretching and trying to stay warmed up, including the Ravens' Joe Flacco and Ed Reed. Cheerleaders kept going through their routines.
Officials gathered on the field and appeared to be talking to stadium personnel. Finally, the lights came back on throughout the stadium, which appeared to have been operating on auxiliary power. Play finally resumed with 13:22 left in the third quarter.
"What's the odds of this happening? That New Orleans voodoo," Vikings running back Adrian Peterson wrote on Twitter.
Next year's Super Bowl almost certainly will be played in cold weather at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
In the wake of recent criticism of a cold-weather Super Bowl, MetLife Stadium's official Twitter account tweeted: "Many people are concerned about the weather for next year's Super Bowl. 35 degrees with lights is better than 70 in darkness!"
New Orleans was once a regular in the Super Bowl rotation and hopes to regain that status. Earlier in the week, the host committee announced it will bid on the 2018 Super Bowl, which would coincide with the 300th anniversary of the city's founding.
The 38-year-old Superdome has undergone $336 million in renovations since Katrina ripped its roof in 2005. Billions have been spent sprucing up downtown, the airport, French Quarter and other areas of the city in the past seven years.
Information from ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas and The Associated Press was used in this report.
>>>
UTILITY BLAMES OUTAGE ON STADIUM
A spokesman for the utility that provides power to the Superdome says the outage began because equipment maintained by stadium staff failed.Philip Allison, a spokesman for Entergy New Orleans, says power was flowing into the stadium before the lights failed.
"All of our distribution and transmission feeds going into the Superdome were operating as expected," Allison said.
Several banks of arena lights went out and the CBS broadcast audio went silent as power went out in the telecasters' booth.
Auxiliary power kept the playing field from going totally dark, but escalators stopped working and the concourses were only illuminated by small banks of lights tied in to emergency service.
— Paul Newberry — http://twitter.com/pnewberry1963
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