A recent investigation by The Times found that air traffic controllers at a Philadelphia facility lost radar and radio contact with planes flying through one of the busiest airspace in the US on April 28. Contrary to initial reports, the outage persisted for several minutes longer than officials claimed.
According to flight data and air traffic control recordings, the radio returned “almost immediately,” but radar took up to 90 seconds to come back online. However, analysis suggests that controllers struggled with communication issues for at least a few minutes after transmissions first blacked out.
The episode led to multiple air traffic controllers requesting trauma leave, causing severe flight delays at Newark Liberty International Airport that have continued for over two weeks. The FAA has also reported another radar outage on May 9, lasting around 90 seconds.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has proposed a plan to modernize equipment in the coming months, but concerns about trained staff shortages persist into next year.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/05/16/nyregion/newark-airport-outages-audio.html