Thousands of flights canceled after FAA systems went down
More than 6,000 flights were canceled or delayed coast to coast because a construction crew accidentally severed a backup data cable from a radar facility near Philadelphia. The first line had already failed. Kris Van Cleave has more details.
An air traffic control outage caused by an accidental fiber line cut by an Amtrak construction crew has disrupted thousands of flights across the Northeast. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported that the primary circuit, which required replacement, failed, while the backup circuit took about 30 minutes to repair. Newark Liberty International Airport has been under a ground stop since around 10 a.m., with about 500 departing and arriving flights canceled, accounting for over a third of all scheduled operations at the airport.
LaGuardia and JFK experienced nearly 300 delays each, while Philadelphia had around 100 canceled flights and another 250 delayed. The affected airport managing the area is the Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON). Flights into Newark and JFK are still paused, but those into Teterboro, primarily used for private aviation, are also halted.
Several Newark-bound flights have diverted to destinations like Pittsburgh and Detroit, and European flights on Lufthansa and Swiss turned back over the Atlantic. Verizon confirmed it was their fiber cable, but the cut was not due to their technicians. It remains unclear when the issue will be resolved, as it may affect the evening and possibly extend into Tuesday. Airline accommodations or compensation for stranded travelers are uncertain.
Written by urgent.news from Business Insider's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
