Audio between air traffic controllers, pilots obtained following Newark airport radar outage
There's been another air traffic control outage in less than two weeks at the same Philadelphia facility that directs planes in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport early Friday morning.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says this was a radar and communications outage lasting about 90 seconds for controllers based in Philadelphia who control the airspace for the Newark airport.
CBS News Philadelphia obtained audio of two conversations between air traffic control and pilots experiencing the outage. The controller can be heard saying, "Our scopes just went black again, if you care about this, contact your airline and try to get some pressure from them to try and fix this stuff."
In a separate conversation, the controller said, "We just had another brief radar outage, but just in case that happens again, for your purposes, if you can't reach me, stay at or above 3,000."
Friday afternoon on X, New Jersey Senator Andy Kim said, "This is absolutely unacceptable. I'm going to Newark airport and the regional air traffic control center tomorrow to get answers and press for real and immediate solutions."
There was a similar outage on April 28 that prompted some air traffic controllers to take a leave of absence to recover from the stress of the incident. It's unclear if controllers involved in Friday morning's outage will be eligible for what's known as "trauma leave," which could worsen an already existing shortage of air traffic controllers.
Because of that problem and other issues, there have been numerous delays and cancellations at the Newark airport.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy addressed the problems on CBS Mornings, saying, "We're training new individuals in the Philly TRACOM, which services Newark. We're building a whole new, fiber-driven system down in Philly that does serve Newark airport. We're in a situation where it's going to take a little bit of time. I hope by this summer, we're going to be fully functioning."
Duffy announced a multibillion-dollar plan to upgrade air traffic control equipment around the country. The project would need approval by Congress.
