Flights resumed at Philadelphia International Airport Monday night after an equipment outage prompted ground stops at airports across the Northeast, leaving travelers in limbo.
The ground stop at PHL expired at 5 p.m., and a ground delay issued by the FAA is no longer in effect.
The equipment outage didn’t only affect flights at PHL. It caused ground stops at several airports, including Newark Liberty International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport and LaGuardia Airport.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a social media post the Verizon fiber line that was damaged in New Jersey and caused the equipment outages has been repaired. He added all airport operations in the Northeast will resume.
However, there’s still a long list of delays and cancellations at PHL. As of 6:54 p.m. Monday, there have been 400 delays and more than 200 cancellations at PHL, according to FlightAware.
A spokesperson for NJ Transit said the accidental cut into the Verizon fiber-optic line happened around 9:45 a.m. Monday while a construction crew was working on the “Delco Lead project between New Brunswick and North Brunswick.”
“Preliminary information indicates the crew was operating approximately 10 feet from the utility markings,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “NJ Transit staff is currently on site working to determine the status of the repairs, while also determining whether it was Verizon or the contractor who made the utility markings at the site. We will continue to work closely with Verizon and the contractor as the circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated. We will provide additional updates as information becomes available. Thirty-six out of the 56 fiber cables are done. They should be coming back online shortly. The rest should be done and tested shortly.”
Earlier Monday, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the primary circuit in Philadelphia TRACON failed. The backup line also had a break, he said.
“In order to change the circuit, we have to actually suspend service to these other sites because we will, what is operating will also lose,” Bedford said. “So we have to sanitize the aerospace. We have to make sure everything’s safe.”
PHL spokesperson Heather Redfern said it will take time before things return to normal
“Once you have those delays in effect, then crews and getting equipment where it needs to be, it will be at least the rest of today trying to get things sorted it out,” Redfern said.
CBS News Philadelphia
Travelers are advised to check www.fly.faa.gov for real-time airport information.
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