What's going on with air traffic control in the U.S.? Here are the facts
Incidents were so traumatizing, some air traffic controllers took stress leave
A series of alarming technical outages affecting Newark Liberty International Airport in the past few weeks have many asking what exactly happened, and whether it's even safe to fly in the U.S. anymore.
An air traffic control facility in charge of airspace around the airport has suffered three communications outages in two weeks, including a 90-second radar and communications blackout on Friday.
Then on Monday, an outage affected a control facility in Denver.
None of the incidents caused planes to collide or crash. But no one is downplaying the seriousness of what happened, or the threat to safety it represents.
What actually happened at Newark airport
When a plane is in the process of taking off or landing, air traffic controllers in the airport's tower are in charge. Since it's a tower, they can physically see the planes they are controlling, as well as using radar and radio systems.
But a different group of air traffic controllers is in charge when a plane has already taken off and is ascending, or when it's descending toward the airport but not yet on final approach. They direct all the planes that are airborne and near airports. Because of the distances, these controllers can't see the planes. They rely exclusively on radar screens and radio communications to know where the planes are.
Their facility is technically known as a TRACON, which stands for terminal radar approach control. The TRACON for Newark used to be on Long Island, but last year the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration moved it to Philadelphia, in part because the high cost of living in the New York area was making it hard to attract staff.
Data from Newark airport and nearby radar sites is sent via a telecommunications line to the Philadelphia TRACON, which shows up on the controllers' screens.
That telecommunications line is what failed twice in the past three weeks, for about 90 seconds at a time, along with a third, unspecified outage on Sunday. That meant the controllers didn't know where the planes were, and couldn't talk to the pilots over radio.
The airspace the TRACON controls could have contained dozens of planes at any given time, many at similar altitudes. Not knowing exactly where they were could lead to a catastrophic collision.
There was no catastrophe, but the experience was so traumatizing that at least five controllers went on stress leave.
In response to the outages, airport officials cut the number of flights going in and out. That caused lasting delays and cancellations.
So the same thing happened in Denver on Monday?
Similar, but it's not clear yet if it was the same.
This is a third type of air traffic control facility called an ARTCC (air route traffic control centre). The controllers there are responsible for guiding planes that are cruising, usually at high altitude, and flying over areas but not landing.
The Denver ARTCC lost communications for about 90 seconds. Similar to the Newark TRACON, it appears the controllers couldn't see the planes they were responsible for on their radar screens. In this case, however, they used a backup frequency to communicate with pilots.
The FAA is investigating what happened, but it's not yet known whether it was a failure of a telecommunications line like in Newark.
What's being done about it
Newark airport is now handling fewer flights, in part because the communications problems are compounded by chronic under staffing, meaning many controllers are overworked.
The FAA said it is increasing air traffic controller staffing, adding three new high-bandwidth telecommunications connections, and deploying a temporary backup system to the Philadelphia TRACON as it switches to a more reliable fibre optic network.
The FAA employs about 14,000 controllers nationwide, but says it need to hire at least 3,500 more.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also said billions of dollars need to be spent on upgrades to air traffic control systems across the country in the next three to four years.
Is flying even safe now in the U.S.?
Duffy says flying is safe, but also says improvements are needed urgently.
Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, which uses Newark far more than any other airline, said on Monday that all flights in and out of there are "absolutely safe."
But many passengers aren't so sure. Some have vowed to avoid Newark from now on.
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