Flights on Monday were delayed or halted at major airports across the United States after an Amtrak construction crew accidentally severed a backup fiber-optic line supporting air-traffic-control communications.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the disruption affected airports serving New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Boston, creating delays and ground stops as officials prepared for the arrival of world leaders for the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
“An Amtrak construction crew accidentally cut into a fiber line in New Jersey,” Mr. Duffy said in a post on X.
The incident caused a telecommunications outage that forced the Federal Aviation Administration to pause flights across parts of the region, he said.
The FAA said the problem involved communications frequencies at its Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control facility, which manages traffic serving several airports in the region.
The facility’s primary circuit failed, and officials discovered that a backup cable had also been damaged, according to FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford.
Flights were resuming at New York’s LaGuardia Airport and Philadelphia International Airport, Mr. Duffy said.
Operations remained disrupted at Newark Liberty International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.
The outage snarled more than 1,000 flights, according to Reuters. Flight-tracking service FlightAware reported that more than 600 flights at Newark and Philadelphia—mor than a fifth of scheduled traffic—had been delayed.e
The FAA’s status system showed the following disruptions:, Boston Logan International Airport: ground delay. Newark Liberty International Airport: ground stop., John F. Kennedy International Airport: ground delay.LaGuardia Airport: ground delay, and Philadelphia International Airport: ground delay.
The incident came a day before the opening of the United Nations General Assembly, when more than 130 officials from around the world are expected to gather in New York.
The airport disruptions could complicate travel plans for diplomats and other delegates arriving for the annual meeting.
Mr. Duffy said the episode “underscores the need for additional funding to modernize aging infrastructure.”
