Air traffic controllers lost signal for over a minute prior to chaos at Newark Airport: report

A damning report has found that air traffic controllers briefly lost radar and radio signals while guiding planes to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey last week.

Bloomberg first reported on Monday that air traffic controllers lost signal for nearly 90 seconds on April 28, shortly before the airport suffered massive delays and flight cancellations.

The air traffic controllers were working at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) operation in Philadelphia that guides flights into and out of Newark. Anonymous sources told the outlet that multiple employees were placed on trauma leave after the incident.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association confirmed the incident to Fox News Digital, writing that the facility had “temporarily lost radar and communications with the aircraft under their control, unable to see, hear, or talk to them.”

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A United Airlines flight takes off at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J., on Feb. 20, 2025. (Getty Images)

“The dedicated, American, hard-working employees who serve as controllers are the foundation of our air traffic control system,” the union added. “These controllers and the thousands of other aviation safety professionals represented by NATCA ensure the safe and efficient movement of millions of passengers and tons of cargo through our dynamic airspace every day.”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy appeared on Fox News Channel’s “The Ingraham Angle” to discuss the debacle. During the segment, he said that the incident took place over a span of 30 seconds, conflicting with previous reporting.

“This should have been dealt with in the last administration,” Duffy said. “They did nothing. So the primary communication line went down, the backup line didn’t fire… [and] we lost contact with air traffic control. That’s a big problem.”

Duffy went on to deny that plane crashes were likely during the brief incident.

“Now, were planes going to crash? No, they have communication devices,” he explained. “They can see other air traffic like GPS in the airplanes. But it’s a sign that we have a frail system in place, and it has to be fixed.”

In the days after the incident, chaos ensued at Newark Liberty International Airport when hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled at the New Jersey travel hub.

More than 200 flights were delayed at Newark on Friday, with around 20 being canceled, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware. The airport reported that it was “experiencing inbound flights delayed at their origin an average of 1 hour 32 minutes.”

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An airplane approaches Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on April 19, 2025. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)

The grim travel day followed an even worse day on Thursday, when more than 500 flights in and out of Newark were delayed and at least 200 others were canceled. 

The chaos continued through the weekend, and as of Monday at 3 p.m., 145 flights were delayed and 76 were canceled.

In a statement obtained by FOX Business on Monday, the FAA addressed the staffing shortages that have contributed to the issue.

“While we cannot quickly replace [the controllers who have left] due to this highly specialized profession, we continue to train controllers who will eventually be assigned to this busy airspace,” the statement read.

“When staffing or equipment issues occur, the FAA will ensure safety by slowing the rate of arrivals into the airport. We will keep the public updated as we work through these issues.”

Duffy addressed the chaos in an X post on Friday and called for an infrastructural update to air transportation.

“The technology that we are using is old. That’s what is causing the outages and delays we are seeing at Newark,” Duffy said. 

“If we don’t act, we will start to see these issues across the national airspace,” he added. “That’s why I’m announcing a plan next week to build an all-new air traffic control system.”

(J. David Ake/Getty Images)

On Monday, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy praised Duffy’s efforts but requested immediate help in controlling the air traffic chaos in the Garden State.

“The FAA has stated that American airspace is short 3,000 air traffic controllers and I appreciate your efforts to retain and hire additional controllers,” the Democrat wrote. “As the FAA works to address the yearslong shortfalls, I urge you to prioritize the region, the busiest airspace in the nation, by immediately addressing Philadelphia TRACON Area C staffing levels and developing a plan to address chronic staffing shortages at New York TRACON.”

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FOX Business reached out to the FAA for additional comment but did not immediately hear back. The Port Authority declined to comment.

FOX Business’ Courtney DeGeorge, Louis Casiano and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.