NEWARK, NJ \u2014 A circuit went kaput at an air traffic control station in Philadelphia. A backup line was mysteriously found severed in New Jersey. And then came the delays.<\/p>\n
This was the unpleasant situation for air travelers across the region on Monday after a series of equipment failures led to full ground stops being issued<\/a> at airports in New Jersey, New York City and Philadelphia, among others.<\/p>\n \n Subscribe<\/a>\n<\/p>\n The ensuing flight delays first hit Newark Airport, but soon spread to Teterboro Airport, JFK Airport and LaGuardia Airport, causing a ripple effect that stretched all the way to Boston.<\/p>\n The ground stops have been lifted, but residual backups are still being reported<\/a> at Newark Airport on Tuesday. As of 2 p.m., there were 61 cancellations and 109 delayed flights at Newark, according to FlightAware.<\/p>\n The disruptions also took a toll on air traffic in New York City, where United Nations leaders have been flying into the country for a high-level general debate<\/a>, and President Donald Trump recently met New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to discuss housing<\/a>.<\/p>\n WHAT HAPPENED?<\/p>\n An FAA official said a primary circuit failed<\/a> at a facility in Philadelphia that handles air traffic for the region<\/a>, including Newark Airport. The station has experienced other equipment failures in the recent past, including radar outages<\/a> that have temporarily left air traffic controllers scrambling in the dark.<\/p>\n The situation snowballed when it was discovered that a backup fiber line near a train track had been unknowingly cut at a construction site in New Jersey<\/a>, reportedly somewhere between New Brunswick and Newark<\/a>.<\/p>\n Verizon, which maintains the line, said its facilities were fully operational until the cable was cut and denied any responsibility for the incident<\/a>.<\/p>\n The finger pointing escalated when U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy commented<\/a> on the chaos, reporting that an Amtrak construction crew accidentally cut into a fiber line in New Jersey which caused a telecom outage and forced the FAA to pause flights in the Northeast.<\/p>\n Amtrak also denied responsibility<\/a>, claiming that the incident took place on NJ Transit property and involved one of their contractors.<\/p>\n The buck then passed to NJ Transit, which confirmed the incident took place<\/a> while one of its crews was working on the Delco Lead project<\/a>. The agency added that it is investigating<\/a> whether the utility markings at the site were accurate.<\/p>\n Duffy has since issued a clarification<\/a> about what happened on Monday:<\/p>\n “Yesterday, a primary telecom switch failed. A backup line was accidentally cut by a NJ Transit construction crew. Flights in the Northeast ground to a halt. Repairs were made as quickly as possible, and all operations in Northeast resumed by the afternoon.”<\/p>\n “Why did it happen?” Duffy opined. “Our digital infrastructure is still running on 40 to 50-year-old technology.”<\/p>\n The push for technology upgrades has been a central part of the Trump administration’s plan to ease chronic delays at airports across the nation. Other plans include training thousands of new air traffic controllers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Duffy has repeatedly been questioned about the chronic delays and malfunctions impacting Newark Airport, which was widely considered one of the “worst in America” for delays last summer<\/a> after being besieged by a combination of serious equipment failures, antiquated infrastructure, a chronic lack of air traffic controllers, major runway construction and bouts of bad weather.<\/p>\n Since then, federal officials say there have been improvements at the busiest airport in New Jersey, including the installation of a new surface movement radar system in August. Other recent improvements have included a software patch<\/a> to fix glitches and prevent outages, rebalancing<\/a> flight volume to match controller staffing, and replacing 90 percent of Newark Airport’s copper wiring with high-speed fiber.<\/p>\n More upgrades are expected to cross the finish line before the end of the summer next year, including new electronic information displays, voice switches and long-range radar for air traffic controllers, the FAA said.<\/p>\n Due to the earlier FAA equipment outage #EWR<\/a> is experiencing residual flight delays and cancelations. Please contact your airline for your flight status.\u2014 Newark Liberty International Airport (@EWRairport) September 21, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about advertising on Patch here<\/a>. Find out how to post announcements or events<\/a> to your local Patch site.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWARK, NJ \u2014 A circuit went kaput at an air traffic control station in Philadelphia. 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