Amtrak Crew Cuts Fiber Line, Halting Flights at Major Northeast Airports

An Amtrak construction crew accidentally cut a fiber optic line in New Jersey on Monday, triggering a cascading failure that halted flights at major Northeast airports and stranded thousands of travelers. The incident began when a primary circuit failed at the Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control facility, which manages air traffic for a large portion of the region. When the Federal Aviation Administration attempted to switch to a backup system, officials discovered the secondary fiber optic cable had been severed. The outage forced the FAA to issue ground stops at Newark Liberty International, Philadelphia International, and Teterboro airports starting around 10 a.m. ET. Restrictions were later expanded to include John F. Kennedy International, LaGuardia, and Westchester County airports. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that flights resumed at LaGuardia and Philadelphia International Airport by mid-afternoon, but ground stops remained in effect at Newark, JFK, and Teterboro. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told reporters the backup fiber break would take approximately 13 hours to repair.