Radar Screens Go Dark at Newark Airport (Again)

Radar screens that monitor Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey went completely black for about 90 seconds early Friday morning, according to a new report from ABC News. The outage comes after an identical problem last week when air traffic control screens for the same airport went dark for about 60-90 seconds.

The radar outage for Newark on Friday happened at 3:55 a.m., the FAA told Gizmodo over email. Air traffic control for Newark is handled in Philadelphia, where the actual screen outage occurred.

“There was a telecommunications outage that impacted communications and radar display at Philadelphia TRACON Area C, which guides aircraft in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport airspace,” the FAA said in a statement. A private plane was reportedly told to stay at or above 3,000 feet during the incident to avoid any possible collisions, according to ABC.

Newark has been plagued with problems recently, including delays and terrifying outages. When screens went black on April 28 the scene was so harrowing that at least half a dozen air traffic controllers have requested mental health support. Their “trauma leave” will allow them to take a break from work for up to 45 days.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy held a press conference on Thursday, warning that air traffic control systems need to be upgraded. And he recognized that Newark was a bad case, just a day before this morning’s outage. “If we don’t actually accomplish the mission that we’re announcing today, you will see Newarks, not just in Newark, you’ll see Newarks in other parts of the country because it’s an aging system,” Duffy said on Thursday.

Duffy’s press conference was extremely odd and opened with the Transportation Secretary calling President Donald Trump, putting him on speakerphone, and holding the phone up to the microphone. Duffy said he wants to build six new air traffic control centers and replace old equipment, noting that his systems still use copper wire rather than “We use radar from the 1970s. Some of them are from the ’80s, but most of them are from the ’70s,” Duffy stressed.

Duffy noted that there has been “decades of neglect” to America’s air traffic infrastructure, with a “patchwork of fixes” and “partial funding.” And while that’s true, it costs real money to upgrade entire systems, something the former reality TV show host didn’t provide specifics about, only noting it will cost “billions.” Duffy will need to ask Congress for money to invest in air traffic control systems, something that might be difficult in a political landscape where Republicans only want to cut funding for essential services.

Duffy himself was in Congress as a representative from Wisconsin during those “decades of neglect,” and at least seemed to accept some of the blame with a smirk on his face. “You can blame me for that, I was in Congress as well.”

Turns out, it’s a lot easier to obstruct funding of important infrastructure for America than to rally spending on it. So we’ll see if Duffy and his buddy Trump can get some serious money allocated.