US Flight Chaos After Telecom Line Cut Disrupts FAA Systems

Thousands of flights across the United States were delayed or canceled on Monday after construction workers accidentally cut a telecommunications line in New Jersey that serves the Federal Aviation Administration. The outage began around 9:45 a.m. and forced the FAA to halt incoming flights at all three major New York-area airports, as well as Philadelphia and Boston, for roughly eight hours.

The disruption coincided with the arrival of 130 world leaders and dozens of ministers in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. FlightAware reported about 7,000 flights delayed or canceled, including 1,400 at the three major New York airports. More than half of all flights were canceled at Newark Liberty International Airport, a major United Airlines hub.

“It would take time to resolve existing delays and urged passengers to check the status of flights they were waiting for.”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated that telecom lines were repaired by late afternoon and normal operations were resuming, though he warned clearing the backlog would take time. The FAA canceled ground-delay programs for the affected airports by late Monday.

Conflicting accounts emerged regarding the cause. Duffy initially blamed an Amtrak construction crew for cutting a fiber line near New Brunswick. Amtrak denied responsibility. New Jersey Transit later said a crew was digging 10 feet from utility markings and it was unclear whether Verizon or a contractor made the markings.

The incident highlighted the vulnerability of the aging US air traffic control infrastructure. Congress allocated $12.5 billion for system upgrades last year.