Aging Infrastructure Blamed for Second FAA Communication Outage at Newark Airport
A communications outage at a facility guiding air traffic at Newark airport has raised concerns about aging infrastructure. The recent incident lasted 90 seconds, marking the second outage in two weeks. The FAA is planning investments to update systems plagued with issues causing flight delays.
In a concerning development for Newark airport, a critical facility responsible for air traffic management experienced another communications outage on Friday, lasting for 90 seconds. This marks the second such incident in as many weeks, exacerbating public fears over infrastructure reliability.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported that the telecommunications failure disrupted both communication and radar functions at Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control, which oversees Newark Liberty Airport traffic. The outage, occurring at around 3:55 a.m. ET, was recorded by The New York Times, highlighting an air traffic control discussion with a FedEx pilot about the incident.
The event drew attention to the outdated air traffic control network, prompting a proposal from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to allocate billions for improvements. The FAA is actively enhancing controller staffing and upgrading communication systems at Philadelphia TRACON amidst growing scrutiny over persistent issues since April 28.
(With inputs from agencies.)
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