US: Newark airport hit by 90-second radar outage, the second in weeks

Radar screens at Newark Liberty International Airport briefly went dark early Friday morning, marking the second such incident in less than two weeks, New York Post reported.

According to air traffic control audio cited by the outlet, controllers informed a FedEx pilot that their screens had gone blank and urged the crew to notify their company to help push for a solution. In a separate transmission, a private jet arriving from Cyprus was instructed to stay above 3,000 feet during descent in case communications dropped again.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that a telecommunications failure at Philadelphia TRACON Area C — which oversees Newark’s airspace — caused the disruption around 3:55 a.m. on May 9. The radar outage lasted approximately 90 seconds.

A similar disruption occurred on April 28, when radar and radio communications went dark for the same duration. That incident prompted some air traffic controllers to leave their posts. According to their union, the absences were covered under the Federal Employees Compensation Act, citing on-duty trauma. The April incident led to major delays and cancellations that impacted passengers for days.