US controllers lost contact with Newark airplanes for 30 seconds last week: Transport secretary
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
United Airlines, the carrier that operates the most flights from Newark, said on May 2 it was cancelling 35 more flights a day, or about 10 per cent, at its Newark hub.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
WASHINGTON – Air traffic controllers overseeing planes at Newark International Airport in New Jersey lost contact with aircraft for 30 seconds last week, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on May 4.
“The primary communication line went down, the backup line didn’t fire. And so, for 30 seconds, we lost contact with air traffic,” Mr Duffy told Fox News.
“Now, were planes going to crash? No. They have communication devices... But it’s a sign that we have a frail system in place, and it has to be fixed.”
Mr Duffy said he planned to unveil a plan on May 8 to seek billions of dollars from Congress to reform air traffic control infrastructure and staffing.
He previously said he would ask for tens of billions in funding.
“We’re going to build a brand-new air traffic control system, from new telecom to new radars to new infrastructure,” Mr Duffy said.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association said on May 5 that air traffic controllers in Philadelphia responsible for coordinating planes in Newark, which serves the New York City area, temporarily lost radar contact and communications with the aircraft under their control on April 28.
Mr Scott Kirby, the chief executive of United Airlines, the carrier that operates the most flights from Newark, said on May 2 that 20 per cent of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) controllers for Newark had walked off the job.
But on May 5, the controllers’ union said the workers did not walk off the job but took absences under the Federal Employees Compensation Act, which provides for absences for injuries or on-the-job trauma.
The FAA said some controllers in Philadelphia who work Newark arrivals and departures “have taken time off to recover from the stress of multiple recent outages”.
Newark airport has also been undergoing runway construction this spring that has cut capacity, and the FAA has faced a persistent nationwide shortage of controllers.
United Airlines said on May 2 it was cancelling 35 more flights a day, or about 10 per cent, at its Newark hub.
Mr Duffy said on May 5: “We have to reduce the traffic, get all the airlines to participate, and then we can move forward and rebuild back to capacity.” REUTERS
