Radar Outage Briefly Disrupts Operations at Newark Liberty International Airport

NEWARK, N.J. — Air traffic controllers at Newark Liberty International Airport faced another alarming disruption early Friday morning when radar screens went black at approximately 3:55 a.m., according to sources familiar with the incident. The brief outage, lasting under a minute, temporarily halted the ability of controllers to track aircraft, raising fresh concerns about the reliability of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) aging infrastructure.

The outage occurred at the Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), which manages air traffic for Newark, one of the nation’s busiest airports. While no flights were reported to be in immediate danger, the incident follows a similar, more severe blackout on April 28, 2025, when controllers lost radar and radio communication for up to 90 seconds, leading to widespread delays and cancellations. That event, described by an air traffic controller as “the most dangerous situation you could have,” resulted in hundreds of flight disruptions and prompted several controllers to take trauma leave, exacerbating staffing shortages.

According to a report by CNN, the April outage was caused by a single unsheathed copper wire shorting out equipment at the Philadelphia facility, highlighting the outdated technology still in use. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy noted that the FAA relies on “floppy disks” and “copper wires,” underscoring the need for modernization. In response to the earlier incident, the FAA announced on May 7 that it would implement three new high-bandwidth telecommunications connections and deploy a temporary backup system to improve reliability.

Friday’s outage, though shorter, has renewed scrutiny of these upgrades. “Frequent equipment and telecommunications outages can be stressful for controllers,” the FAA stated in a prior release, acknowledging the psychological toll on staff. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association emphasized that controllers did not “walk off the job” but took leave under the Federal Employees Compensation Act due to the traumatic nature of such events.

The FAA has not yet released an official statement on the cause of the latest outage, but sources suggest it may be linked to ongoing issues with the data lines connecting radar facilities in Westbury, New York, to the Philadelphia TRACON. The New York Times reported that the April incident led to immediate disruptions, with planes circling in holding patterns and dozens diverted to alternate airports.

Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 indicates that Newark has seen over 1,100 cancellations since the April 28 outage, with on-time performance dropping to 63%, well below industry norms. United Airlines, a major operator at Newark, has cut 35 daily round-trip flights to ease congestion, according to The New York Times.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has called for a full Inspector General investigation into the Newark disruptions, warning that such issues could spread to other airports if not addressed. The FAA has pledged to increase staffing and accelerate technology upgrades, including a shift to fiber-optic connections, but experts warn that systemic issues, including a national shortage of air traffic controllers, may prolong vulnerabilities.

17GEN4.com