1 cable, crippling chaos for airports

When the communications system at the Philadelphia-based air traffic control center failed Monday, an antiquated primary circuit in desperate need of replacement apparently was to blame. That initial problem caused outages for the radar system in Philadelphia, and halted air traffic in Newark and Philadelphia.

But the turmoil didn’t end there.

Controllers tried to switch to a backup system that includes a newly installed fiber optic cable, part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic upgrades.

But that, too, failed, leading to cascading chaos in airports and air traffic control across the Northeast. Flights were grounded, and delays and cancellations mounted, continuing Tuesday morning. Among those impacted: LaGuardia, Kennedy, Newark, Philadelphia and Teterboro airports.

A maze of disturbing finger-pointing between Amtrak, NJ Transit and Verizon ensued. As it turns out, a NJ Transit construction crew cut the cable “accidentally.” There were utility markings 10 feet away, leading workers to think their spot was safe to cut. Whether cables were mismarked, and why, remains to be seen.

Whether obsolete equipment, human error or some combination is at fault, this crisis was the latest in a particularly crippling time for the nation’s air travel. Beyond the difficulty for individual travelers, each with a story to tell, such repeated massive upheaval causes a ripple of economic damage and business disruptions regionwide and beyond. We’re lucky that this time, there was no harm to individual safety, as flights were grounded quickly. But we’ve already seen what can happen, in the LaGuardia Airport runway crash between an Air Canada jet and a fire truck that killed two in March. The tragedy stemmed from controllers who troublingly left their posts and vehicles on the ground that lacked modern transponder equipment to warn the truck driver. Last year, blackouts at the Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control, or TRACON, caused days of delays, ground stops and diversions out of Newark.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has promised action. But nothing has changed. Even upgrades that have been made — including that fiber optic cable — clearly weren’t enough. It’s troubling that a mistaken cut of cable went undetected and can cause so many damaging consequences so quickly. Let’s find answers to the significant safety and security questions this incident raises. Federal officials must find ways to protect equipment, ensure backup systems are maintained and protected, and develop backups to the backups.

“We know these cuts can happen,” Duffy said. Then Duffy and his colleagues should know enough to stop such damage from occurring. Beyond existing circuits and cables, upgrading the region’s TRACONs is key. In 2024, the FAA unfortunately moved some controllers from New York TRACON in Westbury to Philadelphia. Officials left others in Westbury, with aging equipment connecting the two. While Monday’s incident requires further inquiry, it underscores the need for a modern TRACON facility on Long Island, with legitimate backup systems in place.

We need and deserve an air traffic control system that can navigate the complexity of multiple extraordinarily busy airports, without constantly worrying about what will break or fail next.