Panic as lights go out at Tambo

OR Tambo International Airport was thrown into chaos on Tuesday night when several aircraft were grounded or refused permission to land because runway lights were malfunctioning.

The malfunction is to be investigated by the Airports Company SA.

Acsa spokesman, Unathi Batyashe-Fillis said the lights of both the airport's runways went off at 7pm.

"The power shutdown was due to technical issues, which were resolved within 35 minutes . Normal operations have since resumed," she said.

An airport emergency official said the lights were computer controlled.

"Investigators are looking at the system to see what went wrong," he said.

A passenger on flight BA6236 from Port Elizabeth said passengers went "dead quiet" when the pilot announced that there was a problem and he could not land at OR Tambo.

"When he said the lights were out and that we had a limited amount of fuel to carry on flying, people started praying," said the passenger, who asked not to be named.

He said the plane circled the airport for about 10 minutes before the pilot announced that they were going to land.

"You could feel the tension. You could see the worry in people's faces, especially when we saw the lights of emergency vehicles alongside the runway."

SAA spokesman Tlali Tlali said six of the airline's aircraft - five outgoing; one inbound - had been delayed.

Ian Meaker, executive manager for commercial distribution for British Airways and Kulula, said there had been no significant disruption of the airlines' operations.

"We had a flight that faced diversion but fortunately it was not [necessary]. There was a 30-minute delay, which affected flights from both airlines," he said.