Newark air traffic controllers briefly lose radar for 2nd time in 2 weeks

The Associated Press

· Posted: May 09, 2025 2:56 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

The aerial postulation controllers directing planes into the airdrome successful Newark, N.J., lost their radar Friday greeting for the 2nd clip successful 2 weeks.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the radar astatine the installation successful Philadelphia that directs planes successful and retired of Newark airdrome went achromatic for 90 seconds astatine 3:55 a.m. ET Friday. That's akin to what happened connected April 28.

That archetypal radar outage led to hundreds of flights being cancelled oregon delayed astatine the Newark airdrome successful the past 2 weeks aft the FAA slowed down postulation astatine the airdrome to guarantee safety.

Five controllers besides went connected trauma permission aft that outage, worsening the existing shortage. It's not wide if immoderate further controllers volition spell connected permission now.

The fig of cancellations of Newark departures jumped from the debased 40s to 57 aft this latest outage to pb the country, according to FlightAware.com.

Newark ranks 2nd successful the fig of cancelled arrivals with 60, but that fig besides accrued Friday morning. Nearly 300 delays were reported astatine the airport. Officials said determination person been much than 1,700 cancellations and delays astatine the airdrome this week.

WATCH | Union confirms erstwhile nonaccomplishment of interaction with planes:

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said successful a briefing Friday greeting that the "glitch this greeting astatine Newark" was caused by the aforesaid issues arsenic past week, but it didn't disrupt flights.

"Everything went backmost online aft the little outage, and determination was nary operational impact," Leavitt said.

U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer blamed the problems that person plagued Newark connected the deficiency of due aerial postulation controller staffing and modern technology.

He said astatine a quality league Friday that determination are presently astir 20 controllers working, and that fig should beryllium successful the 60s. And galore of the lines connecting controllers to the radar are outdated copper wires. The New Jersey Democrat said the April 28 outage was caused by 1 of those copper wires getting fried.

"Our portion is simply a cardinal economical artery for our country. Yet this portion ... 1 of the busiest aerial spaces successful the world, arsenic I mentioned, is moving disconnected a operation that's afloat of copper ligament dating backmost to the 1980s with outdated and inefficient technology. And the portion is abbreviated — and this is simply a large woody — the portion is abbreviated astir 40 aerial postulation controllers," Gottheimer said. He said the operation was built backmost successful "the Brady Bunch era" successful 1973.

The FAA said earlier this week that it is installing caller fibre optic information lines to transportation the radar awesome betwixt its facilities successful Philadelphia and New York. Officials said immoderate of the lines connecting those 2 facilities are outdated copper ligament that volition beryllium replaced. But it's not wide however rapidly those repairs tin beryllium completed.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a multibillion-dollar program Thursday to regenerate the country's aging aerial postulation power strategy to forestall problems similar this from happening and springiness controllers modern technology. That program includes installing 4,600 caller high-speed connections and replacing 618 radars crossed the country.

Officials developed the program to upgrade the strategy aft a deadly midair collision successful January betwixt a rider pitchy and an service chopper killed 67 radical successful the skies implicit Washington, D.C. Several different crashes this twelvemonth besides enactment unit connected officials to act.

But the shortcomings of the aerial postulation power strategy person been known for decades. The National Transportation Safety Board has not determined that a occupation with the aerial postulation power strategy caused that clang adjacent Reagan National Airport.