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A spokesman for Southern California Edison said a vehicle that crashed into a power pole in Palmdale caused a power fluctuation, which caused the air traffic control center's backup generator to turn on automatically. About an hour later that generator failed.
"Their backup generator sensed there was a problem and kicked in, but for some inexplicable reason it malfunctioned," said Marlon Walker, a utility spokesman.
Laura Brown, an FAA spokeswoman in Washington, said she could not confirm the backup generator failed, adding that the cause was under investigation.
The center normally operates on commercial power but is designed to rely on backup generators in case of a commercial outage, Brown said.
"I don't know if it's us or them," she said.
Air traffic into the Los Angeles area resumed by 8 p.m., Kenitzer said.
Castles said most domestic flights had been booked before the outage, so airline officials were concerned that passengers on canceled flights would be stranded.
At San Diego International Airport, all departing flights were halted at 5:42 p.m., said airport spokeswoman Diana Lucero. Arriving flights were unaffected.
Airports in the San Francisco Bay Area were also affected.
One flight from San Jose to Southern California turned around shortly after takeoff, said San Jose International Airport spokeswoman Marina Renneke. A flight from Vancouver, British Columbia, and another from Seattle were diverted to San Jose. Ten other planes scheduled to fly to Southern California were grounded, Renneke said.
Two Alaska Airlines flights headed to Southern California were diverted to Oakland International Airport, airport spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes said.
Planes also returned to San Francisco International Airport, where customs officials were on alert for the possibility of international flights being sent there.
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