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Newark controllers fear for safety at airport: We have no faith in our equipment

For what seemed like an eternity, the radar screens went dark and all radio contact was lost to controllers handling air traffic heading in and out
Newark Liberty International Airport last week.

Officials are now calling for an investigation. The Federal Aviation Administration is saying little about just what happened.

But those working at the Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control
center known as TRACON, which manages air traffic control in the airspace surrounding Newark Liberty, believe it was likely caused by the loss of a critical data signal. The scary event has raised new questions about the
safety of one of the countrys busiest airports.

I think everyone was in a panic, said one controller, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly. When the
radar and frequencies went out, there wasnt anything you can see. None of
the frequencies worked. It was a helpless feeling.

Without radar or radio, the controller said others handing the traffic
quickly realized they could no longer control anything thats in the sky
right now.

The outage played out on an audio recording captured by LiveATC. net, as a United Airlines pilot repeatedly radioed the controllers for clearance to
land and was met only by silence.

Another pilot radioed as well. Approach are you there? he asked.

Finally, the call was returned. We lost our radar, so just stay on the
arrival and maintain 6,000, directed one controller.

The problem also grounded all departing flights.

Theyre having some frequency issues and then the radar scopes are out, so
they cant have anyone depart right now, a controller at the tower at Newark Liberty told one pilot on the audio recording.

The incident came amid mounting flight delays and cancellations that have plagued Newark International Airport for the past several weeks, and likely wont ease anytime soon.

Equipment outages are by no means unusual in a nationwide air traffic
control system that is decades old, outmoded, and dependent on technicians
to find quick fixes.

Are such outages dangerous?

Thats hard to say, said Michael McCormick a certified flight controller
who is now a professor of Air Traffic Management at EmbryRiddle
Aeronautical University in Florida. Intermittent outages happen often. They
are generally across the air traffic control system.

But theres usually a backup system in place.

That does not appear to have been in place for this system, he said.

As for the how much concern one should feel about the recent blackout, McCormick remarked, if I were sitting without a radar for 90 seconds, thats
a long time.

At issue this time, the Newark controller believed, was that the FAA never provided for a dedicated line to transmit data being fed from a radar
facility in New York where those in Philadelphia controllers used to work
to the Philadelphia TRACON, which they believe increases vulnerability for possible outages.

Most of us are fearful of this operation, the controller continued. We have
no faith in our equipment.

In a worst-case scenario, had the conditions called for instrument flight
rules where planes could not see each other, the controller believes it
could have had fatal consequences.

In the wake of the incident, several controllers took absence under the
Federal Employees Compensation Act, which covers all federal employees that
are physically injured or experience a traumatic event on the job,
according to a union spokesman.
A new home

Air traffic control of the airspace around Newark Airport was relocated
last year from the New York TRACON in Westbury to the Philadelphia Tower at Philadelphia International Airport, under an agreement signed by the FAA
and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

Officials argued the move had been necessitated because of chronic understaffing in New York.

But the move itself led to more controllers who were unwilling to relocate
to leave the FAA.

Meanwhile, the decision by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to conduct a major runway improvement project this spring, eliminating one of Newark Libertys two main runways, further complicated the problems at the airport, greatly reducing its capacity.

Exacerbating the situation is the enormous complexity of the air space
around New York, where controllers have to thread traffic around three
major airports Newark, JFK and LaGuardia. Additionally, they have to
handle smaller, less busy airports that mostly handle business jets and
general aviation aircraft, including Teterboro, Morristown and New York
Stewart International Airport.

Everything in New York TRACON is complicated, agreed McCormick who was managing New York Center airspace on 9/11 and has worked in Philadelphia.

He did not think the move to Philadelphia was a mistake, but with the
recent equipment problems, suggested they are probably rethinking that decision.

He agreed that the way the FAA chose to relay data from New York to the new facility at the airport in Philadelphia was unique.

Instead of a direct feed from radar and radio, they are fed into New York TRACON and then to Philadelphia. Thats not typically the way its done.
Normally its a direct feed, he said.
When controllers arent looking

Certainly when controllers cannot or arent paying attention to whats going
on in the sky, accidents can occur.

In January, a commercial airliner collided in midair over Washington, D. C.
, with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on a low-altitude training flight as
the jet was on final approach for Ronald Reagan Washington National
Airport, killing all 67 people on both aircraft.

The National Transportation Safety Board, in its preliminary investigation, found multiple factors contributed to the crash including the fact that
only one air traffic controller was managing both the helicopter and plane
at the time.

U. S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy last week announced a new
effort last week to get more people into the air traffic controller
workforce, including incentives to keep experienced individuals and conduct more hiring.

Jason Ambrosi, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, said the
United States has the safest aviation system in the world, in part because
of the highly skilled professionals who make it work.

Airline pilots are highly trained and constantly anticipating any issues, flying the aircraft, attentively observing and communicating with fellow
crew members as well as others in the system including air traffic
controllers, and sharing experiences for awareness and action, he said.

Ambrosi said this year, there have already been many operational challenges that have underscored the urgent need to address outdated technology as
well as critical staffing shortages.

For pilots who navigate these skies daily, our message is unequivocal: Now
is the time for immediate, decisive action with steadfast commitment to safeguard and enhance aviations safety and efficiency, he said.

On Tuesday, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N. J. , demanded that the Trump Administration immediately deploy more air traffic controllers to cover
Newark Liberty to help address the severe delays and cancellations. He also urged the administration and Congress to provide emergency funding to
upgrade what he called the outdated infrastructure for air traffic control towers and to reduce staffing issues.

On a good day, air traffic controllers are under immense pressure to do a
lot with the little theyre given, Gottheimer said. When the slightest error
can be deadly, we must work together to help them save lives.

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