A 39-year-old air traffic controller from New York has come forward about her traumatic experience working at Newark Liberty International Airport, where the system blacked out for 90 seconds on May 9. The controller, who remains anonymous, was the only one on duty when the incident occurred and described being “absolutely terrified” without eyes or ears in air traffic control.
The woman, a 16-year veteran of the job, recalled that she had tried to remain alert despite feeling tired, but when the system went dark, she couldn’t track the location of four aircraft she was speaking to. She managed to reconnect with one plane after finding a functional radar scope and regained contact with all four planes once frequencies came back online.
The incident has left her traumatized and forced her onto stress-related trauma leave. The controller believes that if Newark’s air traffic control problems aren’t fixed, it’s only a matter of time before there’s a fatal crash between two planes.
Her experience is part of a larger crisis at the airport, which has been plagued by repeat power failures, inadequate staffing, and poor technology. The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has acknowledged the issues and issued an interim order to reduce flight arrival and departure rates.
The FAA plans to increase controller staffing and upgrade its telecommunications connections with updated fiberoptic technology to address the problems. However, some controllers have been left on trauma leave due to the chronic stress caused by these incidents, leaving concerns about the safety of air traffic management at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Source: https://people.com/air-traffic-controller-left-traumatized-placed-leave-only-one-duty-terrifying-blackout-11738991