Newark air traffic controllers briefly lost contact with aircraft, says Union

Air trafficking controllers at Newark Liberty International Airport briefly lost aircraft communications under their control, “unable to see, hear or talk to them last week, employees say.

The April 28 incident led to numerous employees of trauma leave, contributing to hundreds of delayed flights. More than 150 flights were canceled only on Monday, according to tracking of the Flightware website.

The airport, one of the most busy hubs in New York, has been fighting a shortage of staff for more than a week.

US Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said on Monday that contact with air traffic was lost in 30 seconds, but that does not mean that planes will collapse.

“The main communication line fell, the spare line did not shoot, so in 30 seconds we lost contact with air traffic,” Duffy told Fox News

“The planes will collapse now? No. They have communication devices. … But it’s a sign that we have a weak system and it must be fixed.”

The Federal Aviation Administration also acknowledged in a statement that “our antique air traffic control system affects our workforce.”

Confirming that the controllers were on leave after the incident, the FAA said “could not replace them quickly.”

“We continue to train controllers who will eventually be assigned to this busy airspace,” the statement said.

Airport air traffic control operations have been undergoing sustainable criticism lately.

Last week, UNITED AIRLINES announced that it was canceling 35 flights a day from its Newark schedule as the airport “can’t handle the number of aircraft they need to work there”.

“Over the last few days, more than once, the technology that FAA air traffic controllers are expecting to operate aircraft entering and exit from the Newark airport have failed – as a result, dozens of diverted flights, hundreds of delayed and canceled flights,” said the CEO of the United Part Scott Kirby.

He also said the problems were “complicated” as more than 20% of FAA controllers “started from work”.

The National Association of Air Traffic Controllers said the employees had taken leave for workers for employees who were experiencing a traumatic event in the workplace.

The Union would not say how many controllers had taken leave or how long they had lost contact with planes.

The incident comes when the US Department of Transport revealed last week revealed a package designed to increase the number of FAA air traffic controllers. The department said it was about to hire at least 2000 controllers this year.

In February the Trump Administration started dismissing hundreds of FAA employeesWeeks after a fatal collision of a medium -sized airplane in Washington.

Transport secretary Duffy said he plans to open a plan on Thursday to search billions of dollars from Congress to reform infrastructure and staff.

“We will build a brand new air traffic control system, from new telecommunications to new radars to new infrastructure,” he told Fox News.