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[–><!–>On April 28, controllers at a Philadelphia facility managing air traffic for Newark Liberty International Airport and smaller regional airports in New Jersey suddenly lost radar and radio contact with planes in one of the busiest airspaces in the country.–><!–>
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[–><!–>On Monday, two weeks after the episode, Sean Duffy, the secretary of transportation, said that the radio returned “almost immediately,” while the radar took up to 90 seconds before it was operational.–><!–>
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[–><!–>The episode resulted in multiple air traffic controllers requesting trauma leave, triggering severe flight delays at Newark that have continued for more than two weeks.–><!–>
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–>Outage Begins<!–>
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[–><!–>The pilot of United 1951 replied to the controller’s call, but there was no answer for over a minute.–><!–>
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[–><!–>Two other planes reached out during the same period as United 1951 — a Boeing 777 inbound from Austria and headed to Newark, and a plane whose pilot called out to a controller, “Approach, are you there?” Their calls went unanswered as well. –><!–>
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–>Radio Resumes, With Unreliable Radar<!–>
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[–><!–>One of the planes affected by the radar issues was United Flight 674, a commercial passenger jet headed from Charleston to Newark.–><!–>
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1:27:32 PM
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[–><!–>Flight N426CB, a six-seat private jet flying from Florida to New Jersey, was told to call a different radio frequency at Essex County Airport, known as Caldwell Airport, in northern New Jersey for navigational aid. That was in case the controllers in Philadelphia lost radio communications again.–><!–>
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1:27:57 PM
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1:29:19 PM
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<!–>You just continue on towards the field. They’re going to help navigate you in.
This is in case we are losing our frequencies.–>
1:29:32 PM
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–>Minutes Later, Radar Issues Persist<!–>
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[–><!–>At 1:32 p.m., six minutes after the radio went quiet, Flight N824TP, a small private plane, contacted the controller to request clearance to enter “Class B” airspace — the type around the busiest airports in the country. The request was denied, and the pilot was asked to contact a different radio frequency.–><!–>
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1:32:43 PM
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<!–>You do not have a Bravo clearance. We lost our radar, and it’s not working correctly. …
If you want a Bravo clearance, you can just call the tower.–>
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[–><!–>Since April 28, there has been an additional radar outage on May 9, which the F.A.A. also characterized as lasting about 90 seconds. Secretary Duffy has proposed a plan to modernize equipment in the coming months, but the shortage of trained staff members is likely to persist into next year. –><!–>
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