Flights Grounded at Major US Airports After Construction Workers Cut Backup Cable

…issues in his push for a large-scale modernization of air traffic control equipment in the US. Both Duffy and Bedford said on Monday that the recent circuit failure again underscores the importance of modernization. “ It’s crazy to see how we’re having to chase these 50-year-old, obsolete circuit problems ,” Bedford said. Technical issues can quickly have extensive knock-on effects for flights. In the UK on Monday, a brief glitch knocked out operations at a crucial center in Scotland, leading to delays. The issue came…

…Sean Duffy said in a post to social media that an Amtrak construction crew accidentally cut the fiber line. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fiber cable running adjacent to the Amtrak rail line in New Jersey. “ Construction contractors working in the area dug up and cut our cable ,” Richard Young, a spokesman for Verizon said in an email. The company bears no responsibility for the incident, the Verizon spokesman added. An attempt by the FAA to replace the failed circuit didn’t work, Bedford…

…been severed between New Brunswick and Newark, New Jersey. The FAA said it was working to restore the key connection by installing a new circuit on the primary line while also repairing the backup fiber optic cable. “ That fiber break is probably 13 hours to repair. It’s massive ,” Bedford said, according to a video posted online by a CBS transportation reporter. The primary circuit that failed is already scheduled to be replaced as part of a wider overhaul of the US air traffic control system.…