By all accounts, this sounds like a good week to stay home! Air traffic controllers who lost communication with aircraft at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, leading to hundreds of delays for more than a week, are taking special government leave for traumatic situations to recover from the stress. Via CNN:
The controllers in Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control, which coordinates planes arriving at Newark, “temporarily lost radar and communications with the aircraft under their control, unable to see, hear, or talk to them,” on Monday April 28, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said in a statement shared with CNN.
The connectivity between Federal Aviation Administration radar and the frequencies that air traffic controllers use to manage planes flying in and out of the airport “completely failed,” a source with knowledge of the situation said.
At least five FAA employees took 45 days of leave as a result of the incident, sources tell CNN.
On Monday, the FAA acknowledged that inadequate staffing and the agency’s “antiquated air traffic control system” is affecting its workforce.
“Some controllers at the Philadelphia TRACON who work Newark arrivals and departures have taken time off to recover from the stress of multiple recent outages,” the FAA said in a statement. The FAA also said it is updating its automated system to be more resilient and is working to safeguard telecommunications equipment in the New York area.
The staffing chaos has pushed into an eighth, and unprecedented day, resulting in delays and cancellations for thousands of customers.
“While we cannot quickly replace (the controllers) due to this highly specialized profession, we continue to train controllers who will eventually be assigned to this busy airspace,” the FAA said.