Fibre outage disrupts hundred of US flights

By the Editorial Team · Wednesday, September 23, 2026

A construction crew working for Amtrak accidentally severed a fiber optic line in New Jersey, causing a telecommunications outage that led to the cancellation and delay of hundreds of flights at major East Coast airports including Newark, JFK, LaGuardia, and Philadelphia. The FAA temporarily halted flights to manage air traffic safely while repairs on both the primary and severely damaged backup lines were underway, with full restoration expected to take several hours.

A telecommunications outage caused by a construction error led to the cancellation and delay of hundreds of flights at several major airports on the US East Coast on Monday. The disruption notably affected Newark Liberty International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), LaGuardia Airport, and Philadelphia International Airport.

According to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, an Amtrak construction crew in New Jersey inadvertently severed a fiber optic line, triggering a widespread telecom failure. This incident forced the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to temporarily halt flights in the Northeast region to ensure safety and manage air traffic.

At around 2 p.m. local time, Newark Airport experienced significant operational impacts, with 168 flights cancelled and 97 delayed. Philadelphia International Airport was also affected, recording 63 cancellations and 189 delays. While flights began resuming at LaGuardia and Philadelphia airports by approximately 7 p.m., operations at Newark and JFK remained paused during this time.

Bryan Bedford, head of the FAA, explained that the disruption resulted from two concurrent issues. After detecting an outage in the primary fiber optic line, officials discovered that a backup line had also suffered a severe break, complicating restoration efforts. Bedford described the damage to the backup line as “massive,” attributing it to the construction mishap.

Efforts to restore the primary telecommunications system were expected to be completed by early Monday afternoon, but repairing the backup line was projected to take around 13 hours. The telecom failure impaired communication channels essential for air traffic control, prompting the FAA to implement precautionary measures while repairs were underway.

Amtrak, the US passenger rail service whose construction crew was responsible for the accidental cut, did not issue an immediate public statement regarding the incident. The FAA and Transportation Department officials continue to monitor the situation as repair work progresses, aiming to restore full flight operations across affected airports as soon as possible.

This article was reported by synthesizing coverage from multiple independent news outlets to present a balanced, unbiased account. Read about our editorial standards. Spotted an error? Let us know.