WASHINGTON — A circuit failure caused an hours-long ground stop Tuesday at all three major New York-area airports, snarling air travel across the US, officials said.
The electrical issue at a “single point of failure” led to loss of radio and radar equipment at John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, and Newark Liberty International Airport, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford confirmed.
Making matters worse, officials discovered that a newly built fiberoptic backup system had been damaged by construction work.
“Unfortunately, that circuit failed today,” Bedford said. “And when it went to flip into the backup, we discovered that the backup fiber had a break.”
The FAA boss said he anticipated that flights would resume sometime after 1:30 p.m. ET, but added that it would take at least 13 more hours to fix the backup system.
It was not immediately clear when the fiber-optic backup was severed.
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