Arabic version: قطع كابل يؤخر الرحلات في مطارات أميركية كبرى
According to BBC News, hundreds of flights were delayed at major US airports after construction workers accidentally cut a cable needed for air traffic control. Ground stops and delays were issued on Monday afternoon for airports in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
The disruption affected the Terminal Radar Approach Control system, which is used to guide aircraft during take-off and landing, transport officials said. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the damage caused a telecommunications outage that forced the Federal Aviation Administration to ground flights.
Newark Liberty International Airport was the most heavily affected, according to FlightAware. The flight-tracking website reported 267 delayed departing flights and 257 delayed incoming flights at the New Jersey airport. John F Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport in New York, as well as Philadelphia International Airport, were also affected.
Duffy initially said workers from Amtrak were carrying out the construction work. An Amtrak spokesperson said the incident involved a NJ Transit contractor, while NJ Transit told CBS News that its construction workers had severed the line after markers were wrongly placed at the digging site. Verizon, which owns the cable, said it was not responsible.
FAA head Bryan Bedford said the severed line was a backup network and that the problem was discovered only after the primary circuit failed. Duffy later said the cable had been repaired and airports would resume normal operations, although delays were still expected. The disruption came before the UN General Assembly in New York City, with scores of world leaders expected to arrive through New York-area airports on Tuesday.
