Early Friday morning (May 9), radar screens at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey went dark for the second time in two weeks. The brief outage occurred at 3:55 a.m. ET, during a period of light air traffic. To make travelers’ woes worse, the FAA ordered a ground stop on all flights at the airport due to ongoing construction. The ground stop is set to last until 11:15 a.m. ET.
Friday’s incident follows a similar blackout on April 28, which lasted 60 to 90 seconds and raised safety concerns among air traffic controllers.
The recent outage happened as air traffic controllers were reportedly overheard telling a FedEx cargo plane that their radar screens were offline. They advised the pilots to pressure their company to address the ongoing issues at Newark. A private jet was also instructed to stay above 3,000 feet due to the uncertainty of maintaining contact during its descent.
The April 28 incident was attributed to a failure in the copper wiring that transmits information from radars at a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) facility in Westbury, New York, to Newark’s approach control. This failure led to a temporary loss of radar and communication capabilities for about 90 seconds. The outage resulted in significant delays and cancellations, affecting thousands of passengers and highlighting challenges in the outdated air traffic control system.
The recent outages have prompted renewed scrutiny and concern over the safety and reliability of Newark’s air traffic control systems. Newark is the second-busiest airport in the New York-New Jersey area, serving nearly 49 million travelers in 2024. With the ongoing issues, air traffic controllers have expressed fears about the safety of flying into Newark, urging travelers to avoid the airport until the problems are resolved.
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