Key facts
- An equipment outage at an air traffic control center in New Jersey disrupted thousands of flights across the Northeast.
- A construction crew accidentally cut a fiber line, impacting the Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control facility.
- Newark Liberty International Airport experienced about 500 flight cancellations.
- Hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled at Philadelphia, JFK, and LaGuardia airports.
- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy reported that flights were resuming in some areas but remained paused at others.
- The FAA stated that the primary circuit failed and the backup fiber line was cut.
An equipment outage at an air traffic control center in New Jersey on Monday caused widespread disruptions to thousands of flights across the Northeast. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halted inbound flights to Newark Liberty International Airport around 10 a.m. after a primary circuit failed and a backup fiber line was accidentally cut by a construction crew. The outage also affected Philadelphia, JFK, and LaGuardia airports, leading to hundreds of flight cancellations, delays, and diversions.
Newark was the hardest hit, with approximately 500 departing and arriving flights canceled, representing over a third of its scheduled operations. LaGuardia and JFK each saw nearly 300 flights delayed, while Philadelphia reported about 100 cancellations and 250 delays. Flights into Teterboro, an airport primarily used for private aviation, were also paused.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told CBS News that the primary circuit was old and due for replacement, and that about 600 feet of the backup fiber line was cut. He initially suggested the backup repair could take half a day, while the primary circuit fix might take 30 minutes, but later reports indicated the fix did not work.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated on X that an "Amtrak construction crew" had "accidentally cut into a fiber line." He later updated that flights were resuming in LaGuardia and Philadelphia, but flights into Newark and JFK remained paused. Verizon confirmed it was their fiber cable that was cut, but stated their technicians were not responsible for the damage.
Flight tracking data showed several Newark-bound flights diverting to other cities, and some flights from Europe were seen turning back over the Atlantic. It remains unclear when connectivity will be fully restored, with potential for disruptions to continue into Tuesday.