FAA Ground Stops Hit Major Mid-Atlantic Airports During Equipment Outage

An equipment outage grounded flights at several major airports across New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania on Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

“The FAA is temporarily pausing flights into Philadelphia International, Teterboro and Newark Liberty International airports because of problems with certain frequencies at Philadelphia TRACON,” the agency told Fox News in a statement Monday morning.

The ground stop later expanded to John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Westchester County Airport, according to the FAA website.

The control tower at Philadelphia International Airport, from which six-year-old Casper departed for Florida. (John Greim/Loop Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)

FAA Administrator Brian Bedford said Philadelphia TRACON lost its primary circuit. When controllers switched to backup systems, they discovered a break in the fiber-optic cable.

Bedford said the TRACON could resume operations at 1:30 p.m. ET if a replacement circuit is installed. Repairing the damaged fiber-optic cable is expected to take about 13 hours.

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