Both cases were traced to the Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) network out of Philadelphia that guides flights in and out of Newark airspace.
In the Friday outage, radar screens serving Newark went black shortly before 4 a.m. EDT for about 90 seconds on a limited number of sectors, the FAA said.
And on Sunday, Newark said it issued a ground stop “due to FAA equipment outages” that lasted about 45 minutes. The FAA said there was a telecommunications issue at Philadelphia TRACON Area C, and the facilities backup system worked as it was intended, but the FAA slowed traffic to make sure it remained stable.
Transportation Secret Sean Duffy said on “Meet The Press” on Sunday he was concerned about the events at Newark, and cast blame on telecommunications issues and glitches in software.
He said the system for monitoring airspace and flights is outdated, said the airport will be “up and running in short order.”
But the transportation secret assured the public it’s safe to fly in and out of Newark.
In the interim, Duffy said Newark will experience “reduced capacity” in the coming weeks, and he’ll convene a meeting of all the airlines that serve Newark about that reduction.
