Failure of the US radar system causes delays in flights to New York, Philadelphia and Boston

An accidentally damaged fiber optic cable during construction work has caused major disruption to air traffic in the United States, with delays at major airports in Philadelphia, New York and Boston, and around 90 flights diverted to other regions. After a few hours, flights gradually resumed at some major East Coast airports, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced.

Failure of the Terminal Radar Approach Control System

US Air Force Administrator Bryan Bedford explained that the failure affected the Terminal Radar Approach Control System, the system that guides planes during takeoff and landing. A circuit malfunction led to the discovery that the backup fiber optic link had also been damaged by workers. “Someone dug it up,” Bedford said, noting that the affected section is about 183 meters long and that the repair will take about 13 hours. To intervene, it is necessary to turn off the system, temporarily clear the airspace and ensure that all flights are safe. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said problems like this are "not new" and asked Congress for more funding to upgrade the system.

The inconveniences

New York's John F. Kennedy Airport reported delays in departures and arrivals due to FAA equipment failure. Boston Logan also warned that the air traffic control problem is impacting flights across the country. The outage coincides with the publication of a report by the Government Accountability Office, according to which the FAA's communications and air traffic control systems are vulnerable to cyber threats, although the FAA has not indicated a cyber attack as the cause of the ongoing disruptions.

The UN General Assembly in New York

The disruptions come at a particularly delicate time for air traffic in the region: around 130 heads of state and government and dozens of ministers are arriving in New York for the high-level week of the United Nations General Assembly. According to flight tracking site Flightaware, more than 680 connections have been affected by the block so far. The failure in Philadelphia follows by a few hours the one that brought air traffic to its knees in Great Britain.