VITAL radio contact with pilots is failing nearly every week – putting passengers’ lives at risk – terrified air traffic controllers have warned.
They’re faced with a constant “nightmare” following a catastrophic deadly crash, multiple near-misses and planes “flying blind” over New Jersey.
Prior to today’s proposal by the White House, concerns were raised regarding the upcoming initiative to invest billions in revamping the outdated U.S. air traffic control infrastructure, in response to recent plane crashes and technical failures.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy revealed that the Department of Transportation will build a “brand new air traffic control system” by 2028.
The department will also replace 618 radars, and construct six new air traffic control centers over the next few years.
Accompanied by the CEOs of the five largest U.S. airlines, Duffy acknowledged, “this is bold, this is challenging,” as he unveiled the strategy to modernize technology across 4,600 U.S. air traffic control centers.
He also mentioned the system malfunction at Newark Liberty International Airport in April, where air traffic controllers in nearby Philadelphia faced a nearly two-minute inability to communicate with planes through radar and radio.
He said, “We had that 30 to 90 seconds of a blackout which is frightening.
“And if we don’t actually accomplish the mission that we’re announcing today, you will see [the] Newark [outage] not just in Newark, you’ll see Newarks in other parts of the country.
“Because it’s an aging system, and so we have to actually upgrade it.”
Some of the equipment is so dated the government shops on eBay for replacement parts and some systems still use floppy disks
To prove his point, he then pointed on stage to examples of the ancient equipment that air traffic controllers are currently using in the US “to keep our skies safe.”
Duffy warned, “It is old, and looks like it’s out of the ‘70s and ‘80s.”
Budding air traffic controllers would struggle to be trained on such outdated gear, he added.
Some of the equipment is so dated that the government shops on eBay for replacement parts and some systems still use floppy disks, Duffy explained.
He was adamant that trainees should instead work with “state-of-the art equipment.”
Duffy then paid tribute to family members of the 67 people who died when a U.S. Army Black Hawk collided with an American Airlines plane in Washington, D.C. on January 29.
He said that relatives of some of those victims had attended this afternoon’s press conference, and ”my heart goes out to you.
“And I think if you learn anything from what’s happened it’s that if there are foreseeable issues in the airspace, you would expect someone to take action.”
Duffy said he was determined to “fix” the system after decades of problems, “to make sure we don’t have families that go through what [those] families have gone through.”
However, he said it would take support from Congress to “make it happen,” and to achieve the massive overhaul in three or four years, “we need all of the money upfront.”
Duffy is seeking tens of billions of dollars to modernize the air traffic control system.
STRESS LEAVE
His announcement followed news that stressed-out pilots and air traffic controllers have begged the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to completely overhaul the dangerous – and outdated – air traffic control system.
Their plea follows the latest near-disaster, when screens and radios went dark for all air traffic controllers as they lost contact with planes approaching Newark airport.
During the April 28 incident, air traffic officials stationed in nearby Philadelphia were unable to connect with planes on radar and through radio for 90 seconds.
Yesterday, the FAA announced it has been slowing arrivals and departures at Newark after the system outage.
On Wednesday, Newark led the nation with 42 canceled departures and 46 canceled arrivals, according to FlightAware.com
But “shell-shocked” controllers told NBC News that outages have become too frequent, and they’re in constant fear of radar systems failing – yet again.
“It’s everybody’s worst nightmare,” said Michael Donahue, 53.
What air traffic control changes have been announced by Sean Duffy?
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has asked for tens of billions of dollars to “fix
Here is what he announced on May 8:
- A “brand new air traffic control system” to be built by 2028
- New infrastructure such as radar, software, hardware and telecommunications networks
- Over 4,600 sites will get new high-speed network connections replacing old telecommunications lines with fiber, wireless and satellite links
- Over 25,000 new radios and 475 new voice switches will be deployed to maintain controller-pilot communications and reduce delays
- The Department Of Transportation will also replace 618 radars by 2027
- Six new air traffic control centers will be built for the first time since the 1960s
- Surface awareness initiative technology, which helps prevent close calls on the ground, will be expanded to 200 airports
- 174 new weather stations will be installed in Alaska
Donahue was based at Philadelphia International Airport for two decades and, up until February, worked alongside the controllers who handled the flights into Newark.
He revealed that controllers had lost radio contact with pilots nearly every week until the recent Newark near-disaster.
This glitch was sometimes due to the radar, which tracks the location of planes, suddenly failing to function.
Donahue recalled, “People would come out of the room screaming, ‘We’ve lost the frequencies!’
“That’s almost just as scary, because you could see two planes going towards each other and not be able to do anything.”
Newark controllers were moved from New York to Philadelphia last summer to address staffing issues.
But, problems haven’t faded, Donahue added.
“As soon as they got here (Philadelphia), they were having frequency issues, and one day they lost the radar completely,” Donahue said.
He described the controllers as being “at breaking point” and “at stress level 10 at the Newark approach.”
During each shift they fear “am I gonna lose the radar today? Am I gonna lose the frequencies?” he said.
FAA’s statement about issues at Newark Airport
The Federal Aviation Administration shared the following statement about the ongoing issues at Newark Liberty International Airport.
“Our antiquated air traffic control system is affecting our workforce,” the FAA said in a statement on Monday.
As [Transportation Secretary Sean] Duffy has said, we must get the best safety technology in the hands of controllers as soon as possible.
“We are working to ensure the current telecommunications equipment is more reliable in the New York area by establishing a more resilient and redundant configuration with the local exchange carriers.
“In addition, we are updating our automation system to improve resiliency.
“Frequent equipment and telecommunications outages can be stressful for controllers. Some controllers at the Philadelphia TRACON who work Newark arrivals and departures have taken time off to recover from the stress of multiple recent outages.
“While we cannot quickly replace them due to this highly specialized profession, we continue to train controllers who will eventually be assigned to this busy airspace.
“When staffing or equipment issues occur, the FAA will ensure safety by slowing the rate of arrivals into the airport. We will keep the public updated as we work through these issues.”
Source: X
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association confirmed that Newark had “temporarily lost radar and communications with the aircraft under their control, unable to see, hear, or talk to them.”
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby warned last Friday that Newark Airport “cannot handle the number of planes that are scheduled to operate there in the weeks and months ahead.”
But the Transportation Secretary said earlier this week that he had a plan to “radically transform” the creaking air traffic control system.
He told host Laura Ingraham on Monday night, “We’re going to build a brand-new air traffic control system — from new telecoms, to new radars, to new infrastructure.
“We’re bringing on new air traffic controllers.
“This has been a problem in the decades coming, and we’re going to fix it.”
What is wrong with America’s air traffic control system?
The US needs to spend billions for new radar, air traffic control facilities, telecommunications equipment.
The industry is struggling with crumbling, outdated infrastructure, huge staffing shortfalls and failing technology, according to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
“You are starting to see cracks in the system,” Duffy said last week. “Everything – the hardware and the software – has to be redone.”
The FAA’s air traffic communications systems have been outdated for years and the agency can no longer get spare parts for many systems.
Aging FAA air traffic facilities have leaking roofs, broken elevators and heating and air conditioning systems, while ancient surveillance radar systems must soon be replaced at a cost of billions of dollars.
Obsolete buildings contain radar technology that is no longer manufactured and computers with floppy disks last seen in the 20th century.
Many of the 520 airports overseen by the FAA need new runway safety technology so controllers don’t rely on binoculars to see planes.
The FAA has said it will end a long-ridiculed, decades-old practice of air traffic controllers using paper flight strips to keep track of aircraft.
The agency is currently some 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels and nearly all control towers have staffing shortages.
Controllers are working mandatory overtime of up to 12 hours a day and six-day work weeks to cover shortages in the high-stress vocation.
The FAA said in March it planned to hire 2,000 air traffic controller trainees this year.
Duffy, 53, said that officials had “slowed the traffic down at Newark” due to safety concerns.
He added, “When you have an incident like this, you want to make sure that people are safe.
“And so, you just have less departures out of the airport until we feel comfortable and safe that the system isn’t going to go down again.”
Despite his defense of the system, five controllers remain on extended trauma leave after the radar outage, which has worsened staff shortages in Philadelphia.
DEADLY CRASH
The temporary blackout came months after a mid-air collision between an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter in January, which killed 67 people near Reagan Washington National Airport.
On Thursday, another Army helicopter forced two flights to abort landings at Reagan.
And on Monday, at the San Francisco Airport, there was a collision between two United Airlines planes – fortunately there were no injuries.
Last month, two planes carrying multiple members of Congress collided at Washington National Airport, prompting yet another FAA probe.
