The communications breakdown last week that resulted in air traffic controllers losing radar and radio contact with the pilots of planes they were guiding into Newark Liberty International Airport has happened at least two other times since August, a current veteran controller told NBC News on Tuesday.
And at least eight or nine times in recent months, controllers lost radio contact with pilots flying into one of the nation’s busiest airports, said the Newark airspace controller who asked not to be identified.
“We lost all radios! No backups!” the controller said. “Everything went down.”
The Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the claims Tuesday.
This comes a week after controllers in Area C of the Philadelphia TRACON, which guides flights in and out of Newark, lost all communication on April 28 with the pilots bound for that airport — a near-disaster that is now under investigation.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Monday that contact between the air traffic controller and planes was lost for “30 seconds.” He told Fox News no planes were in danger of crashing.
Since then, the estimates for how long there was no communication have climbed to 90 seconds.
“That’s 90 seconds of a wholly filled-up sky of planes literally flying blind over one of America’s busiest airports,” New York Sen. Chuck Schumer said Tuesday in Washington. “Thank God nothing happened, but we tempt fate if no changes are made.”
Recordings released Tuesday by LiveATC.net offered some insight into how the air traffic controllers and pilots were able to work through the crisis and avert what could have been a major tragedy outside one of the nation’s busiest air travel hubs.
“I am going to move you here because I just got told that the approach lost all the radars,” an air traffic controller could be heard telling the pilot of United Airlines Flight 2243 on one of the recordings. “Three of the four radar screens went black, and they have no frequencies.”
“Alright, we’re ready to move,” the pilot replied, his voice calm.
This back-and-forth does not convey the fear air traffic controllers were feeling at the moment they were trying to get 15 to 20 flights safely into the airport while the systems were down, the whistleblowing controller said.
“It was like time stood still for a while,” the controller said. “It was a scary moment when we tried to reach these planes and we couldn’t.”
The controller said the communications breakdown did not feel as long as 90 seconds but “felt like 45 seconds to me,” as they dealt with the crisis calmly.
“We went to back up radios, that didn’t work, nothing worked,” the controller said. “The fear of panic and being scared came afterwards.”
“These planes with people, with lives in them are flying — and no one is talking to them — they were flying in the dark,” the controller said. “It was like a cone of silence. We couldn’t hear them, but I’m sure they were calling us.”
The after-effects from what happened last week were still being felt Tuesday at Newark Airport.
For a ninth straight day, travelers trying to fly out of Newark Airport had to contend with massive delays as the FAA tries to find replacements for the air traffic controllers out on a 45-day trauma leave.
Incoming flights to Newark were delayed by more than four hours Tuesday. United Airlines, a major carrier at the airport, canceled 35 daily roundtrip flights at Newark and was waiving change fees for its customers wishing to change their flights to LaGuardia or Philadelphia airports.
While the FAA has not said how many controllers are out on medical disability for stress, the controller who spoke with NBC News said the control tower is struggling to keep up with the flights because four experienced controllers and a trainee are now on leave.
Replacing them will take time, an FAA spokesperson said, because any certified controller that applied or volunteered to move to the to the Philadelphia TRACON that guides planes into the Newark airspace would have to do additional training at the FAA’s air traffic control training center in Oklahoma City. After which they would be required to do on-the-job training in Philadelphia.
On average, it takes about a year and a half to be certified as an air traffic controller in any facility, the spokesperson said.
The FAA moved the controllers who are responsible for aircraft arriving and departing from Newark from a facility on Long Island to Philadelphia last year. The move was meant to reduce the workload of the controllers in that facility who were also handling traffic for New York City’s major airports.
United CEO Scott Kirby said Monday the Philadelphia TRACON “has been chronically understaffed for years.”
“Newark airport cannot handle the number of planes that are scheduled to operate there in the weeks and months ahead,” Kirby said.
Duffy said the shortage in air traffic controllers is an ongoing, nationwide problem. He said there are 3,000 vacant positions nationwide and that he plans to roll out a strategy to offer incentives to the labor force.
“Decades of underinvestment in the maintenance of critical air traffic control infrastructure, delays in upgrading to modern 21st century air traffic control technology, and inadequate air traffic control staffing have resulted in a frail system nationwide,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy added Monday.
The FAA said in a statement Monday that “our antiquated air traffic control system is affecting our workforce” and that it is working to improve the reliability of communications in the New York City area.
But in the interest of safety, the FAA had to slow arrivals into Newark until they can find enough air traffic controllers to handle the workload.
“We will keep the public updated as we work through these issues. The FAA will continue to be transparent with the public about the status of Newark and every airport,” it said, directing people to its website.
