Astounding new audio shows air traffic controllers reacting to FAA tech outage: 'This is a serious issue'
Incredible air traffic control ATC audio captures the moment staff lost radar and radio signals while guiding planes to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey last week The April outage lasted roughly seconds The National Air Traffic Controllers Association authenticated the case to Fox News Digital writing that the Federal Aviation Administration FAA 's operation in Philadelphia had temporarily lost radar and communications with the aircraft under their control unable to see hear or talk to them The audio shows the initial moments of controllers learning of an outage at Philadelphia TRACON ATCT There is certain equipment outages so I don't know what exactly the equipment is but they're having specific frequency issues and then the radar scopes are out so they can't have anyone depart right now one man is heard saying NEWARK AIRPORT HIT WITH NEW DELAYS OUTAGE HEARD ON AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL AUDIO I am going to move you here because I just got explained that the approach lost all the radars Three of the four radar screens went black and they have no frequencies another says Another man remarks I guess this is a serious issue because I have one more arrival and now I have nobody else coming in back The audio also captures controllers attempting to get more information about the outage Any idea how long the departure delay is going to be one man asks in the audio I have no idea We're still waiting on word from Newark TRACON another rapidly replies HAKEEM JEFFRIES BLAMES TRUMP FOR NEWARK AIRPORT CHAOS ACCUSES WHITE HOUSE OF 'BREAKING THE FAA' The approach just explained me that a couple of techs went in looked at the radar scope and walked out a man is heard saying They think it's going to be a likely delay The affair predated massive delays and cancellations at the New Jersey excursion hub which has been ongoing since Thursday In a announcement obtained by FOX Business the FAA addressed the staffing shortages that have contributed to the issue While we cannot swiftly replace the controllers who have left due to this highly specialized profession we continue to train controllers who will eventually be assigned to this busy airspace the agency announced Monday When staffing or equipment issues occur the FAA will ensure safety by slowing the rate of arrivals into the airport We will keep the residents updated as we work through these issues Fox News Digital's Kyle Schmidbauer contributed to this overview
