Air Traffic Controllers Lost Contact With Planes At New Jersey Airport, Reports Say

NEWARK, NJ — They lost contact with the planes, reports say.

For the past week, passengers at Newark Airport in New Jersey have been pulling their hair out over a series of cancellations and delays. A chronic lack of air traffic controllers and antiquated, malfunction-prone equipment is being blamed for many of the problems. Read More: Newark Airport ‘Chaos’ Continues (5 Reasons Behind The Delays)

Apparently, travelers aren’t the only ones getting fed up with the situation.

According to union spokespeople, air traffic controllers in Philadelphia – who have taken over the duties of separating and sequencing aircraft in and out of Newark Airport – had a nerve-wracking experience on April 28, The New York Times reported.

For an unclear amount of time – some reports say more than a minute – the air traffic controllers lost radar and communications with the planes that were under their guidance, effectively rendering the controllers “unable to see, hear or talk to them.”

NBC News shared audio footage that captures the confusion as controllers scrambled to get a bead on the situation and share updates with flight crews.

Hundreds of delays, diversions and cancellations followed.

Several of the involved air traffic controllers took absences from their jobs in the wake of the incident under a law that protects federal employees who experience a traumatic event to leave work.

The FAA acknowledged in a statement that “our antiquated air traffic control system is affecting our work force.” The federal agency added that the workers on leave can’t be quickly replaced, BBC News reported.

On Friday, the CEO of United Airlines – which maintains a hub in Newark – announced that the airline is cancelling 35 roundtrip flights per day from its Newark schedule.

“In the past few days, on more than one occasion, technology that FAA air traffic controllers rely on to manage the airplanes coming in and out of Newark airport failed – resulting in dozens of diverted flights, hundreds of delayed and canceled flights, and worst of all, thousands of customers with disrupted travel plans,” Scott Kirby wrote.

“Keep in mind, this particular air traffic control facility has been chronically understaffed for years and without these controllers, it’s now clear – and the FAA tells us – that Newark airport cannot handle the number of planes that are scheduled to operate there in the weeks and months ahead,” Kirby added.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has since linked the tech failures at Newark Airport to an “incredibly old” and outdated system, which still uses floppy disks and copper wires.

“The system that we’re using is not effective to control the traffic that we have in the airspace today,” Duffy said at a news conference on Friday, adding that the system is safe but prone to causing delays.

The transportation secretary discussed plans to boost the number of air traffic controllers across the nation last week, outlining a blueprint for an aggressive recruitment campaign. Duffy said the agency is on track to hire at least 2,000 controllers in the U.S. this year.

The FAA also plans to offer a limited-time incentive package to keep experienced controllers from retiring, he said.

Meanwhile, the delays at Newark Airport continued on Tuesday, with some arriving flights delayed an average of four hours.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were more than 200 delays and 130 cancellations, according to FlightAware.

• See Related: Ground Stop At Newark Airport Causes Severe Flight Delays In NJ
• See Related: Shortage Of Air Traffic Controllers In Newark Earns Lawmaker's Wrath
• See Related: Surprise – Newark Airport Is Among Nation’s Best, New Ranking Says

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