A construction crew cut a backup fiber-optic cable in New Jersey on Monday, and after a primary circuit failed, the Federal Aviation Administration paused flights at major Northeast airports for hours.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said an Amtrak construction crew accidentally cut into a fiber line, triggering a telecom outage. Amtrak said it was not responsible. New Jersey Transit later said a crew working about 9:45 a.m. on the Delco Lead project between New Brunswick and North Brunswick severed the cable while working about 10 feet from utility markings. Verizon, which owns the line running beside an Amtrak rail corridor, said contractors dug up and cut its cable and that its facilities had been working until then.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said Philadelphia TRACON lost its primary circuit first. When the system switched to backup, crews found a break in a stretch of fiber about 600 feet long. A full repair of that line was expected to take about 13 hours, so crews worked to restore a replacement circuit instead.
UPDATE: The telecom lines have been repaired, and all airport operations in the Northeast are resuming.
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) September 21, 2026
It will take some time to clear all existing delays, so please check with your airline for the latest information. https://t.co/cqFWKQr0ar
Ground stops hit Newark Liberty, John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia, Philadelphia and Teterboro. Boston and Reagan National also felt spillover. Reuters reported the outage began as world leaders were arriving in New York for the U.N. General Assembly and that problems were not fully cleared for about eight hours. USA Today said Duffy announced around 6 p.m. Eastern that the telecom lines had been repaired and operations were resuming, though travelers were told to check airlines. By late evening, FlightAware showed Newark with more than half of scheduled flights canceled and Philadelphia with heavy cancellations and delays. Nationwide, more than 900 flights were canceled and thousands delayed, UPI reported.
Duffy said the episode shows why aging aviation infrastructure needs more funding. No injuries were reported. Dallas-Fort Worth travelers connecting through New York, Newark or Philadelphia still faced leftover delays Tuesday.
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