meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The World

Heathrow airport shuts down after fire causes blackout

The World

PRX

News, Lethaldissent

4.6884 Ratings

🗓️ 21 March 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Heathrow, one of the world's largest airports, has shut down after a fire broke out Thursday night at an electric substation, effectively knocking out the airport's power. We hear about the potential causes behind the fire at the substation and how vulnerable airports are to these kinds of incidents. Also, in Sudan, pro-government troops have retaken control of the presidential palace in Khartoum. The palace was previously held by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, who say the battle is not over yet. This would be a major symbolic victory for the Sudanese military, if the palace takeover is confirmed. Also, the effort to return political pluralism to Poland's federal government. And, the American doughnut shops with roots in Cambodia.

Listen to today’s Music Heard on Air.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

A massive fire at a power substation near London's Heathrow Airport shuts down one of the biggest

0:10.8

transportation hubs in the world.

0:12.7

Heathrow is like a small city and it needs a huge amount of electricity to process passengers

0:18.2

through. Nearly 300,000 travelers had their flights canceled today.

0:22.6

I'm Carol Hills.

0:23.6

Also, we'll hear about a major reversal on defense spending in Germany,

0:27.6

and in Khartoum, Sudan's army has recaptured the presidential palace.

0:31.6

And it's seen as an emblem of the sovereignty of the country,

0:35.6

but also in a way of the legitimacy of whoever holds it.

0:39.4

Also, why Legos are still such a big success,

0:42.8

it's partly because they're not just for kids anymore.

0:45.1

It feels like it's an adult product,

0:47.6

and it has an adult price tag to match.

0:51.4

That's all ahead. Today on the world.

0:59.4

This is the world. I'm Carol Hills.

1:04.9

Thanks for joining us on this Friday. London Heathrow, one of the busiest airports in the world,

1:10.6

went dark today. The cause was a large fire that broke out at the electrical substation that provides power to the airport.

1:11.6

There's no suggestion of any foul play, according to Britain's Energy Secretary, but authorities were forced to cancel more than 1,300 flights creating travel chaos for thousands of passengers.

1:22.6

Lucy Adler was on a flight from Delhi to London when she found out what was happening.

1:29.3

Here she is speaking to the BBC.

1:43.7

Captain woke us all up and kind of said, hey, there's been a problem, there's been a fire at Heathrow, and actually, you know, we're going to need to, and we all thought he was going to say land at a different airport.

1:47.0

And what he actually said was, turn around and go back to Delhi.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from PRX, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of PRX and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.