Another 90-second outage adds to series of troubling incidents at Newark airport
- A brief radar outage occurred at Newark Liberty International Airport early Friday morning, lasting approximately 90 seconds.
- This incident follows similar outages in April and November, raising concerns about the reliability of air traffic control systems at the airport.
- Stress from repeated outages has led some air traffic controllers to take medical leave, exacerbating existing staffing shortages.
Radar screens briefly went dark early Friday morning for Newark Liberty International Airport, marking the latest in a series of troubling air traffic control incidents at one of the nation’s busiest hubs.
"There was a telecommunications outage that impacted communications and radar display at Philadelphia TRACON Area C, which guides aircraft in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport airspace," the FAA said in a statement shared with Paste BN. "The outage occurred around 3:55 a.m. on Friday, May 9, and lasted approximately 90 seconds."
According to FlightAware, which tracks flight status, 8% of Friday's flights into and out of Newark have been canceled and 25% have been delayed, as of about noon. That's double the cancellations of Thursday, but not quite as many delays. More than a third of flights leaving Newark and nearly half the flights arriving there on Thursday were delayed. It has also been rainy in the area Friday.
Friday's blackout comes just weeks after a more severe incident on April 28, when air traffic controllers at the Philadelphia TRACON lost radar and radio communication with multiple aircraft bound for Newark. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) said controllers were “unable to see, hear, or talk” to planes under their control. A similar outage was recorded on Nov. 6, according to aviation channel VASAviation.
Following the April 28 event, several controllers took medical leave under the Federal Employees Compensation Act, citing stress from repeated outages. Their absence and ongoing staffing shortages led to significant flight disruptions at Newark.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has urged Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to fast-track infrastructure upgrades at Newark, citing “decades of underinvestment” and a fragile system “not equipped for 21st century demands.”
Duffy announced on Thursday a plan to modernize the U.S. air traffic control system. The plan includes replacing outdated facilities and technology, aiming to improve safety and efficiency in air travel.
(This story has been updated with new information.)