Flights at Newark, JFK, LaGuardia airports disrupted due to equipment outage, FAA says
Flights into and out of Newark Liberty International, John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia airports are delayed due to an equipment outage, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The outage is having a ripple effect on air traffic throughout the country.
A ground stop was ordered at around 10 a.m. Monday at Newark and has been extended multiple times. Currently, it's set to expire at 5:45 p.m.
A stop was ordered at 12:38 p.m. for JFK, which is now a ground delay until 10:59 p.m. LaGuardia's stop was issued at 12:43 p.m. and is now a delay until 9:59 p.m., according to the FAA. Included in the stop were flights to the two airports from more than a dozen regions across the U.S. and Canada, including Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Miami, Toronto and Montreal.
"The FAA is pausing flights into Philadelphia International, Teterboro and Newark Liberty International airports due to issues with some frequencies at Philadelphia TRACON," a spokesperson said Monday morning.
TRACON stands for Terminal Radar Approach Control. It is an air traffic control facility that uses radar and radios to guide planes approaching and departing from airports.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said an Amtrak crew accidentally cut into a Verizon fiber line in New Jersey, causing the outage, according to a social media post. CBS News New York reached out to Amtrak, which said the incident happened on NJ Transit property.
NJ Transit then released the following statement:
"At approximately 9:45 a.m. today, a construction crew working on the Delco Lead project between New Brunswick and North Brunswick accidentally severed a fiber-optic cable while working at the site. We've been made aware that this cable served as a back-up to a primary circuit system that failed," NJ Transit said.
"Preliminary information indicates the crew was operating approximately 10 feet from the utility markings. NJ TRANSIT staff is currently on site working to determine the status of the repairs, while also determining whether it was Verizon or the contractor who made the utility markings at the site.
"We will continue to work closely with Verizon and the contractor as the circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated. We will provide additional updates as information becomes available."
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the primary circuit in Philadelphia TRACON failed. The backup line also had a break, he said.
"That fiber break is probably 13 hours to repair. It's massive, I'm told," he said.
Bedford said the cut is somewhere between New Brunswick and Newark. A new circuit is being installed, he said.
Some flights that were already in the air when the ground stops went into effect were sent to other airports. A spokesperson for Boston's Logan Airport confirmed they were "getting a lot of diversions from impacted airports."
Travelers are encouraged to check with their airlines for the latest information about individual flights.
