Radar, Radio Blackout at Newark Airport Sparks Safety Concerns and Travel Chaos

A troubling report has revealed that air traffic controllers briefly lost both radar and radio contact with aircraft bound for Newark Liberty International Airport last week, raising serious concerns about the safety and reliability of US air traffic infrastructure, Fox News reports.

The incident occurred on April 28 at the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Philadelphia facility, which oversees traffic into and out of Newark. According to Bloomberg, which first reported the story, radar and communication signals were lost for nearly 90 seconds — a critical lapse in one of the busiest airspaces in the country.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) confirmed the incident, stating the facility had “temporarily lost radar and communications with the aircraft under their control, unable to see, hear, or talk to them.” Multiple employees were reportedly placed on trauma leave following the event.

Despite conflicting reports about the duration of the outage, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy acknowledged the issue during an appearance on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle, stating that the blackout lasted about 30 seconds. Duffy pointed to outdated technology and poor planning from previous administrations as contributing factors.

“This should have been dealt with in the last administration,” he said. “We lost contact with air traffic control. That’s a big problem.”

Duffy downplayed the immediate risk of crashes, noting that pilots still had access to onboard GPS and could communicate with one another.

“Were planes going to crash? No,” he said. “But it’s a sign that we have a frail system in place, and it has to be fixed.”

The incident triggered cascading delays and cancellations at Newark Liberty, with hundreds of flights disrupted in the days that followed. On Friday alone, more than 200 flights were delayed and around 20 were canceled. The situation worsened on Thursday, with over 500 flights delayed and at least 200 canceled, according to FlightAware.

By Monday afternoon, travel woes persisted, with 145 delays and 76 cancellations still affecting passengers at Newark.

The FAA addressed the turmoil in a statement to FOX Business, acknowledging staffing shortages and emphasizing ongoing efforts to train new air traffic controllers.

“While we cannot quickly replace [the controllers who have left] due to this highly specialized profession, we continue to train controllers who will eventually be assigned to this busy airspace,” the agency stated.

Secretary Duffy echoed concerns about aging technology and systemic fragility in a post on X (formerly Twitter), writing:

“The technology that we are using is old. That’s what is causing the outages and delays we are seeing at Newark.”

He also hinted at an ambitious overhaul of the air traffic control system:

“If we don’t act, we will start to see these issues across the national airspace. That’s why I’m announcing a plan next week to build an all-new air traffic control system.”

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy weighed in on the matter Monday, urging the federal government to prioritize improvements in the region’s air traffic facilities. In a letter to Secretary Duffy, Murphy emphasized the urgency:

“As the FAA works to address the yearslong shortfalls, I urge you to prioritize the region… by immediately addressing Philadelphia TRACON Area C staffing levels and developing a plan to address chronic staffing shortages at New York TRACON.”