Newark Liberty International Airport experienced another radar disruption early Friday, marking the latest in a series of similar incidents affecting the airport in recent weeks.
In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the radar blackout, saying that preliminary details indicate it lasted for about a minute and a half. That duration matches a previous incident reported on April 28.
“There was a telecommunications outage that impacted communications and radar display at Philadelphia TRACON Area C, which guides aircraft in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport airspace. The outage occurred around 3:55 a.m. on Friday, May 9, and lasted approximately 90 seconds.”
According to ABC News, air traffic controllers alerted a FedEx aircraft at 3:55 a.m. that they had lost visual data, reporting that their radar screens had gone completely blank.
A private jet flying into the airport was similarly informed about the issue. Controllers instructed the pilot to remain at an altitude above 3,000 feet in case further communication problems occurred, according to recordings.
“There is another brief radar outage, so just in case that happens again, for your purposes if you can’t reach me, just stay at or above 3,000,” a controller said, according to LiveATC.net.
At the same time, a ground stop was temporarily implemented at Newark due to ongoing construction, further complicating airport operations. As of 11:30 a.m., the airport had logged 246 delayed flights and 74 cancellations.
This latest radar malfunction happened just one day after the Trump administration revealed plans to overhaul the country’s outdated air traffic control infrastructure, parts of which still rely on obsolete copper cabling rather than fiber optics.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy noted that some of the radar systems still in use were installed in the 1970s and 1980s, emphasizing the urgent need for modernization.
The challenges posed by the aging system have become especially evident at Newark recently, with repeated breakdowns impacting flights and operations.
On April 28, the radar signal from Philadelphia’s TRACON center—which manages Newark-bound traffic—was lost for up to 90 seconds, rendering controllers temporarily unable to monitor aircraft positions.
Following that event, some air traffic controllers took leave under a contract clause that permits stepping away after experiencing high-stress or traumatic situations, which further strained the already limited staffing.
The disruption resulted in extensive delays and cancellations at Newark over the past two weeks, as the FAA scaled back air traffic to maintain safety protocols.
Preliminary investigations point to a failure in the data transmission lines between a radar facility in New York and the Philadelphia control center as the likely cause.
The FAA has already begun upgrading those connections to fiber optics and is actively working to hire and train more controllers to stabilize operations and reduce disruptions at Newark.
{Matzav.com}
