Archive · 22 Sep 2026
FAA Telecom Outage Disrupts 7,000 Flights Across Northeast
A communications problem disrupted airplane traffic in the northeastern United States on Monday.
Air traffic controllers use these communications systems to coordinate flights safely.
About 7,000 flights were delayed or canceled, and more than 100 were sent to other airports.
Arrivals were stopped for several hours at major airports around New York, Philadelphia, and Boston.
The first problem involved a failed communications circuit.
Workers also discovered that a backup fiber cable was broken.
Officials said most services were repaired later in the afternoon.
The outage lasted about eight hours at Newark Airport.
Investigators disagreed about which construction operation caused the damaged cable.
A telecommunications failure disrupted FAA air-traffic-control operations across the Northeast on Monday.
About 7,000 flights were delayed or canceled, with more than 100 diverted, according to FlightAware.
Arrivals were halted for hours at major airports including Newark, LaGuardia, JFK, Philadelphia, and Boston.
The outage involved a failed primary circuit and a break in a backup fiber line near New Jersey.
Officials said services were restored later Monday, but clearing the resulting flight backlog would take time.
- Who
- The Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, airlines, airports, and construction and telecommunications companies were involved.
- What
- A telecommunications outage disrupted air-traffic-control operations, causing approximately 7,000 flight delays and cancellations and halting arrivals at several airports.
- When
- Monday, beginning around 9:45 a.m.; services were restored later that afternoon after about eight hours at Newark.
- Where
- The disruption affected the U.S. Northeast, including airports in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Boston; damaged lines were in New Jersey.
- Why
- A primary communications circuit failed, while a backup fiber line was also broken; officials disputed which construction operation caused the physical damage.
Initial Official Account
Rail and Contractor Response
Who damaged the fiber line?
Initial Official Account
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said an Amtrak construction crew accidentally cut a fiber line near New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Rail and Contractor Response
Amtrak denied responsibility. New Jersey Transit said a crew had been working about 10 feet from utility markings and was still determining whether Verizon or the contractor had made those markings.
Reason for the flight stoppage
Initial Official Account
FAA officials said the failed primary circuit and broken backup fiber line left air-traffic-control communications impaired, so flights were paused to protect safety.
Rail and Contractor Response
No organization disputed the safety-based flight pauses, but the parties differed over the construction activity responsible for the damaged telecommunications line.
- Estimated disruption
- About 7,000 flights were delayed or canceled, according to FlightAware.
- Start time
- The disruption began at approximately 9:45 a.m. Monday.
- Affected airports
- Arrivals were halted at Newark, LaGuardia, JFK, Philadelphia, Boston, and two smaller New York-area airports.
- Diversions
- More than 100 flights were diverted to other airports.
- Technical problems
- A failed primary circuit and a break in a backup fiber line disrupted FAA communications.
- Restoration
- Newark resumed arrivals after about eight hours; LaGuardia and Philadelphia also resumed operations later Monday.
- Backup repair estimate
- Bryan Bedford estimated that repairing the backup fiber line could take about 13 hours.
- Responsibility dispute
- Sean Duffy initially blamed an Amtrak construction crew, while Amtrak denied responsibility and New Jersey Transit said the cause was still being determined.
