US halts flights at busy East Coast airports, says fiber line cut at construction site

The Federal Aviation Administration halted traffic at major US East Coast airports due to a telecom circuit failure and an accidentally cut backup fibre line. This caused over 1,000 flight delays and cancellations, including at New York's JFK and LaGuardia airports, Philadelphia International Airport, and Newark Liberty International Airport.

The incident occurred during the UN General Assembly in New York, drawing 130 world leaders and ministers. The outage highlighted the shortcomings of the aging US air traffic control system, which received $12.5 billion in funding for upgrades the previous year. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said a replacement circuit had also failed, but resuming traffic at JFK and LaGuardia.

It took 13 hours to repair the damaged fibre line, which was accidentally cut by a construction crew in New Jersey. Newark alone saw nearly 1,000 flights delayed or cancelled, while nationwide nearly 4,000 flights were affected, with 500 cancelled. FlightAware reported more than 600 flights delayed at Newark and Philadelphia, with an average delay of 112 minutes. The issue also led to some flights being diverted to other airports.