US safety officials slow operations at troubled Newark airport after critical outage
Federal regulators vow to overhaul US air traffic control system while fixing problems at Newark airport
Regulators said Wednesday they have been slowing arrivals and departures at one of the United States’ busiest airports following a 90-second traffic control system outage last week that has industry experts sounding alarm bells.
Delays and flight cancellations have followed the April 28 incident at Newark Liberty International Airport in the state of New Jersey, one of the three major airports serving the New York metropolitan area.
For about a minute and a half, air traffic controllers stationed in nearby Philadelphia were unable to communicate with Newark planes as the radios and radar went out, according to accounts in US media.
Employees involved in the incident have described a terrifying scene, with four air traffic workers taking short-term, trauma-related leave following the outage, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
The episode has heaped additional attention on the US Air Traffic Control system, which has been chronically understaffed and long been beset with older equipment due to shortfalls in congressional funding.