Radar screens at major U.S. airports darkened earlier on Friday, the agency said.
Newar Liberty International Airport in New Jersey lost communication for about 90 seconds on Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was in the midst of concerns over air traffic control at major U.S. hubs.
“There was a communication halt affecting communications and radar displays in Philadelphia Tracon Area C, which leads aircraft in and out of the airspace of Newar Liberty International Airport,” the FAA said Friday. Tracon Area C refers to a type of air traffic control facility, which is a specific section within the Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control.
The 90-second stop took place earlier that day around 3:55am local time, the federal agency said.
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“The main communication line went down, so the backup line didn’t fire, so we lost contact with air traffic for 30 seconds,” Duffy said in an interview with Fox News on Monday. “Were the planes about to crash now? No. They have communications equipment…but that’s a sign that we have a frail system in place and we need to fix it.”
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association on Monday, a Philadelphia air traffic controller responsible for coordinating Newark’s planes, serving the New York City area, temporarily lost communications between the radar contact and the aircraft on April 28th.
Last week, Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, the carrier that runs the most flights from Newark, said 20% of Newark’s FAA controllers have left their jobs. However, the controller union said workers did not quit their jobs but were absent under the federal employee compensation law.
Kirby said later Monday that United was cancelling 35 flights per day at the Newark Hub.
Newark Airport is building a runway this spring, which cuts capacity and the FAA faces a sustained national shortage of air traffic controllers.
Reuters contributed to this report.
