A stop at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey was raised on Sunday after being released early in the morning, according to the latest Aviation Administration, in the latest of a series of issues that have plagued the airport in recent weeks.
“FAA briefly slowly slowed aircraft inside and off the airport, while we guaranteed that redundancy were working as projected. Operations returned to normal,” FAA said in a statement about X.
FAA did not elaborate why the stop was issued at 8:15 am, but said there was a matter of telecommunications in the Philadelphia Tracon Area C area, a traffic control installation that guides the flights inside and outside Newark. The installation previously had an interruption on April 28, which was the catalyst for major delays in the travel center.
Newark airport said the floor stop is due to “FAA equipment interruptions” and has since been raised.
During last month’s interruption, TRACON Air traffic controllers lost communication with aircraft traveling from and to the airport, making them unable to see, listen or talk to them, according to National Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA).
It is unclear what caused the loss of communication or how long the air traffic controllers lost communication with the aircraft.
The event led air traffic controllers to say goodbye to the Federal Employee’s Compensation Act, which covers physically injured federal employees or experience traumatic events at work, according to NATCA, a union representing about 20,000 aviation professionals.
Since the incident, delays and cancellations of flights that travel in and out of Newark airport have been constant. Airlines, including United, had to cancel hundreds of flights and dozens of others were diverted to other airports.
Many questions contributed to the interruptions, including lack of personnel, construction and various instances of technical equipment failure.
In an exclusive interview with “Meet The Press”, Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said he is concerned about all US air space after recent Newark interruptions, adding that telecommunications problems and software failures are the culprits.
“Now I think the lights are flashing, the sirens are spinning and saying, ‘Listen, we have to fix it,'” he said. “Because what you see in Newark will happen elsewhere in the country. It must be fixed.”
Duffy said he believes they will have Newark Airport “in a short time.”
More than 85 flights traveling from and to Newark were postponed and more than 80 were canceled from Sunday morning, according to FlightAware.com.