Newark air traffic controllers lost radar access for 90 seconds—the second time in two weeks
Air traffic controllers directing planes in Newark, New Jersey, the airport lost their radar Friday morning a second time for two weeks.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the radar at the Philadelphia facility that directs planes inside and outside the Newark Airport has turned black within 90 seconds at 3:55 am Friday. That is the same as that happened toApril 28th.
This first radar outage led to the road -flights that have been canceled or delayed at Newark Airport for the past two weeks after the FAA has slowed the airport traffic to ensure safety. Five controlrs also went to trauma leave after that flow, worsening theexisting deficiency.It is unclear if there are additional controllers leaving today.
The number of cancellations of Newark's removal jumped from the low 40s to 57 after this latest flow to rule the country, according to Flightaware.com. The Newark rank second to the number of canceled arrival with 60, but that number also rose on Friday morning. Nearly 300 delays have been reported at the airport. Officials said there were more than 1,700 cancellations and delays at the airport this week.
The White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on a briefing Friday morning that “Glitch this morning in Newark” was caused by the same issues as last week, but it did not disrupt flights.
“Everyone is back online after a short flow, and there is no operational effect,” Leavitt said.
US Rep. Josh Gottheimer has the problems that occurred in Newark with the lack of proper air traffic controller staffing and modern technology. He said at a news conference on Friday with current about 20 working controlrs, and that number should be in the 60s. And many of the lines that connect radar controllers are outdated copper wires. He said April 28 outage was caused by one of the copper wires fried.
“Our region is a major economic artery for our country. But this region … One of the most abusive winds in the world, as I mentioned, runs in a bronze -filled wire that once returned to the 1980s with outdated and poor technology. And the region was short -and it was a big deal. Gottheimer. He said the tower was built back to “The Brady Bunch Era” in 1973.
FAA said earlier this week that it installed new fiber fiber data lines to bring the radar signal between its facilities to Philadelphia and New York. Officials say some of the lines connecting these two facilities are outdated bronze wire to be replaced. But it is unclear how fast the adjustments can be completed.
Transportation Secretary announces Sean Duffy AMulti-billion-dollar plansThursday to replace the country's air traffic control system to avoid problems like this to occur and to provide modern technology of controlrs. That plan includes installing 4,600 new high-speed connections and replacing 618 radars nationwide.
Officials developed the plan to upgrade the system after aMidair's deadly collisionIn January between a passenger jet and an army helicopter killed 67 people in the sky over Washington, DCMany other crashesThis year also puts pressure on officials to act.
But the shortcomings of the air traffic control system have been known for decades. The National Transportation Safety Board did not determine that a problem with the Air Traffic Control System caused a crash near the Reagan National Airport.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
