Fiber cable cut halts flights at Newark and two airports

What happened

An Amtrak construction crew severed a fiber cable line in New Jersey, triggering an outage that halted flights at Newark and grounded flights at three airports, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Newark was one of the three airports affected.

The FAA connected the flight disruption directly to the damaged fiber line. Amtrak was responsible for the construction crew that cut the cable, while the FAA reported the resulting effect on airport operations.

The disruption began with construction work away from airport runways and terminals, but its effects reached flight operations. The sequence described by the FAA was direct: the crew cut the line, the cut caused an outage and flights were then kept on the ground at three airports.

What happens next

The central operational questions are when service on the fiber line is restored and when the FAA allows affected flights to resume. Restoring the cable connection and ending the flight halt are separate steps involving the damaged infrastructure and the federal agency overseeing flight operations.

Travelers using Newark will need to monitor the status of their individual flights as operations change. Airline schedules may reflect the halt differently depending on which flights were on the ground when the outage occurred.

Further FAA notices can establish when the grounding ends. Updates from Amtrak can address the status of the severed line and the construction work connected to the outage.