Air traffic controllers lose radar and radio contact with planes approaching and departing Newark for 90 seconds – again

Washington CNN Air traffic controllers handling flights approaching and departing Newark Liberty International Airport experienced another outage early Friday morning The blackout included losing radar for about seconds at Newark Terminal Radar Approach Control at a m local time the Federal Aviation Administration commented in a message 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 report noted There are delays and cancellations stated at Newark according to the flight tracking site FlightAware as of a m Friday Staffing issues for Newark Terminal Radar Approach Control are noted in the publicly available FAA operations plan for nearly the entire day and the flow of aircraft is being managed due to staffing constraints Bad weather including low clouds and runway construction are also delaying Newark flights Friday The outage is the latest in a series of troubling technical problems that have impacted the air traffic control system in the United States On April an outage of radar and communications at the same facility left controllers unable to talk to planes or see where they were located As CNN previously broadcasted at least five controllers took days of trauma leave after that event leading to a staffing shortage that canceled and delayed more than a thousand flights Thursday the Department of Transportation disclosed an overhaul of the nation s air traffic control system What we re seeing through the system is you know hundreds of times a week blips in connectivity which is a sign that you re seeing issues with your telecom Secretary Sean Duffy stated CNN after the announcement