Air traffic controllers temporarily lost communication with aircraft flying in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.
Last Monday, a ground stop was issued at Newark airport because of a Federal Aviation Administration equipment malfunction. The administration has still not clarified what the malfunction was.
During the incident, air traffic controllers in Area C of the Philadelphia TRACON, a traffic control facility that guides flights in and out of Newark, lost communication with aircraft traveling to and from the airport, making them unable to see, hear or talk to them, according to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA).
The air traffic controllers are in charge of “separating and sequencing aircraft in and out of Newark Airport.”
Since the incident, delays and cancellations of flights traveling into and out of Newark airport have been constant. Airlines, including United, have had to cancel hundreds of flights, and dozens of others have been diverted to other airports.
Many issues contributed to the disruptions, including understaffing, construction and several instances of technical equipment failure. On Monday afternoon, over 300 flights traveling to and from Newark were delayed, and more than 150 were canceled.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Wednesday that it was taking immediate steps to address ongoing problems that have disrupted hundreds of flights.
The FAA said it was increasing air traffic controller staffing, adding three new high-bandwidth telecommunications connections and deploying a temporary backup system to the Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control, which is handling Newark traffic during the switch to a more reliable fiber-optic network.
It also said it had capped the maximum arrival rate at Newark for the “foreseeable future” and may temporarily lower it further to ensure safety based on staffing, weather or equipment issues.
