FAA outage disrupts flights at major New York-area airports

Flights at several of the nation’s busiest airports were delayed Monday after a technology outage at an air traffic control facility prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to halt or slow traffic across the New York and Philadelphia region.

The FAA said it paused flights into Philadelphia International, Teterboro and Newark Liberty International airports because of “issues with some frequencies” at Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control, known as TRACON. CBS News reported that flights into and out of John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia airports were also delayed, adding to ripple effects across the country.

“The FAA is pausing flights into Philadelphia International, Teterboro and Newark Liberty International airports due to issues with some frequencies at Philadelphia TRACON,” an FAA spokesperson said.

TRACON facilities use radar and radio communications to guide planes as they approach and depart from airports. The disruption left dozens of aircraft idling on runways, NBC News reported, and caused thousands of travelers to face interrupted plans.

The ground stop at Newark began around 10 a.m. Monday and was extended multiple times, at least until 2:45 p.m., according to the FAA information cited by CBS News. Ground stops were ordered at Kennedy Airport at 12:38 p.m. and at LaGuardia at 12:43 p.m., with both in effect until at least 2 p.m., CBS News reported. NBC News reported that ground stops at Teterboro and Philadelphia had gone into effect before the Newark stop.

The FAA’s website showed departure delays of up to 150 minutes out of Newark and Philadelphia, according to NBC News.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the primary circuit at Philadelphia TRACON failed and that the backup line also had a break, CBS News reported. Bedford said the cut was located somewhere between New Brunswick and Newark, and that a new circuit was being installed.

“That fiber break is probably 13 hours to repair. It’s massive, I’m told,” Bedford said.

The FAA did not immediately say how long it would take to restore the affected systems, NBC News reported.

The disruption hit one of the country’s heaviest air travel corridors. NBC News noted that last year, an equipment malfunction left about a dozen planes flying without communications for 90 seconds in the crowded skies over New Jersey. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at the time that planes were never in danger of colliding during that brief communications breakdown.

Travelers were advised to check with their airlines for the latest information on individual flights as delays continued across the region.