What we know about the FAA outage disrupting thousands of flights across the Northeast
Airports across the Northeast are experiencing flight delays after the FAA ordered a ground stop due to a construction mishap.
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.
