Radio Silence: The 30 Seconds That Crippled Newark Airport
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What started as 30 seconds of silence in a New Jersey sky spiraled into a multi-day breakdown at Newark Liberty International Airport, grounding flights, traumatizing air traffic controllers, and laying bare the fragility of America's air traffic control system.
CNN reported that on April 28, communication between Philadelphia-based air traffic controllers and planes headed to Newark failed mid-approach. 'Approach, are you there?' one pilot asked repeatedly. It took five attempts before a controller responded. That brief outage cascaded into hours of chaos and a backlog that took days to unwind.
The issue wasn't just a glitch. It was a collapse. Radar went down. Backup systems failed. Pilots were left unsure of their positioning. At least five Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) controllers took trauma leave, and over 500 flights were delayed or canceled in the immediate aftermath. Some aircraft, flying blind at hundreds of miles per hour, had to rely on outdated instructions or contact towers directly — a jarring reality in one of the nation's busiest air corridors.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy didn't mince words. 'We use floppy disks. We use copper wires,' he said. 'The system we're using is not effective to control today's traffic.'
Related: U.S. Travelers Warned to Avoid Major Airport, 'It Is Not Safe'
The FAA now faces renewed scrutiny for its chronically understaffed control towers and archaic equipment. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said over 20% of Newark controllers were out last week, though the union disputes they walked off the job. Instead, sources close to the facility say workers were 'traumatized' and took protected leave to recover.
The delays have persisted into May. FAA advisories show Newark has faced 14 straight days of FAA-imposed restrictions, and average arrival delays reached nearly five hours. Passengers voiced concern not only about long waits but also about flying in skies governed by a system that appears on the verge of failure.
The FAA has pledged a sweeping modernization effort over the next three to four years. In the meantime, delays at Newark are expected to continue as staffing and equipment issues persist.
Related: Think You Have to Do TSA Facial Recognition? Think Again
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