Ground stops issued at multiple major airports over equipment outage
Travel was interrupted for thousands of travelers Monday when a ground stop was issued for Newark, Teterboro and Philadelphia International airports. Later, JFK and La Guardia were added the list.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued the ground stop for Newark around 10 a.m. Eastern, and it remains active. The New York ground stops followed at around 1 p.m.
The FAA website lists the cause for each as an “equipment outage.” An FAA spokesperson specified to CBS Philadelphia that there were “issues with some frequencies at Philadelphia TRACON,” an air traffic control facility.
FAA administrator Brian Bedford told reporters that the primary circuit into that air traffic control facility failed Monday morning. Then the agency discovered that the backup fiber optic line had been severed somewhere between New Brunswick and Newark, New Jersey.
“We’ve got the new circuit ready to install,” Bedford said, estimating that it “should be operational” by 1:30 p.m.
Construction contractors dug up and cut a Verizon cable, the company said in a statement to CNN.
“We have a fiber cable running adjacent to an Amtrak rail line in New Jersey. Construction contractors working in the area dug up and cut our cable,” the Verizon statement said, specifying the telecommunications company was not responsible for the damage.
“We and our partners are actively working to repair the damaged cable and restore connectivity as quickly as possible.”
The ground stop was canceled for La Guardia shortly before 3 p.m. and for Philadelphia and JFK shortly after. All are still facing delays.
Video below: FAA administrator Bryan Bedford comments on ground stops
As of 12 p.m., the Philadelphia International Airport was facing delays of an average of 151 minutes, the FAA said.
Boston’s Logan International Airport is also facing a ground stop attributed to “airport volume.” The FAA noted that the Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center was “taking on extra volume due to diverts from PHL outages.”
Passengers can check the latest status at airports here.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
