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ANOTHER alarming power failure was reported at Newark airport, occurring just over a week after the air traffic controllers experienced a complete communication blackout with aircraft approaching the runways.
The Federal Aviation Administration acknowledged this latest 90-second outage, which contributes to an alarming series of incidents unsettling the airport and prompting concerns regarding its safety.
According to the FAA, the radar at a facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, responsible for guiding aircraft to and from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, lost power at 3:55 am on Friday.
The terrifying incident matched the previous outage on April 28 that saw air traffic controllers’ screens and radios go dead silent for a full minute and a half.
Circling pilots desperately called out for answers on Friday as the controllers were unable to communicate or even see planes landing at the airport on radar.
Eerie audio has captured the moment one United Airlines pilot flying from New Orleans radioed the controllers at least five times and begged for clearance to land at the busy airport, which is just 12 miles outside of New York City.
For 30 seconds, the desperate pilot was met with nothing but silence when he asked if anyone was there until systems finally came back on, according to a recording on LiveATC.net.
“United 1951, how do you hear me?” the controller asked before the relieved pilot replied, “I got you loud and clear.”
Travelers have blasted airport officials and accused them of “playing games with people’s lives” after the second terrifying flub in just two weeks.
“I’ll drive an extra 3 hours to another airport before flying out of Newark again after all these reports,” one horrified traveler wrote on X.
Another person admitted that they “always” try to avoid flying from Newark, as another person begged, “fix this now.”
“Millions fly every day, and this is flat-out dangerous,” they wrote.”
Since the first outage, hundreds of flights out of Newark have been delayed or canceled as the FAA curbed traffic to improve safety.
Staffing has also plummeted since the event as several already-overworked air controllers went on trauma leave, according to the Associated Press.
NEW PLANS
Earlier this week, the FAA said that it was replacing fiber optic lines connecting the Philadelphia and New York facilities because some were dated.
On Thursday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a multi-billion-dollar overhaul plan to boost the infrastructure for air traffic control.
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
He also said that communications with pilots have been lost on a weekly basis at the Newark airport before the first bombshell outage, citing conversations with airport staff.
Duffy and President Donald Trump have both blasted airports for forcing controllers to use “dated” technology that’s powered by copper wires and floppy disks.
The secretary didn’t provide details on the plan or specific costs, but experts believed that a minimum of $18.5 billion could be necessary for the update, NPR reported.
“A lot of people have said: This problem is too complicated, too expensive, too hard,” Duffy said at an event at the Department of Transportation’s headquarters in Washington DC.
“But we are blessed to have a president who actually loves to build and knows how to build.”
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has revealed that his airline has been vocal about issues with Newark’s facilities, and said they have been mounting for years.
“This particular air traffic control facility has been chronically understaffed for years,” he warned customers in a statement.
“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.”
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.
