A severed fiber cable disrupted hundreds of flights across the US
Hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed in the United States after construction crews accidentally cut a Verizon fiber optic line used by air traffic control. The incident occurred in New Jersey and caused significant disruptions at major airports, particularly in the Northeast region including all three New York City airports. The outage was initially attributed to an Amtrak crew cutting the cable, but both Amtrak and New Jersey Transit have since pointed fingers at each other for responsibility. Verizon stated it had no fault in the incident, blaming construction contractors who dug up and severed its fiber line. As of Monday evening, telecom lines were repaired, allowing airport operations to resume gradually. Despite repairs being completed, delays persisted due to the backlog caused by earlier ground stops. Flight tracking data indicated over 1,000 canceled flights nationwide on the day of the incident.
Topics: air traffic control Amtrak fiber cable cut flight delays New Jersey Transit