Blundering construction workers have been blamed for cutting through a newly installed fiber backup line that was meant to keep air traffic control services running across the Northeast when a legacy circuit broke on Monday morning.
Tens of thousands of passengers are being warned to expect significant disruption for the rest of Monday after an important circuit at a major air traffic control service in Philadelphia broke. A backup line was meant to immediately kick in, but it was at this point that the Federal Aviation Administration discovered that the new fiber line had been severed.
The circuit break occurred at what is known as a TRACON center in Philadelphia – essentially, a large air traffic control facility that manages airspace across the Northeast. The broken circuit controlled airspace for Philadelphia (PHL), Newark (EWR), and Teterboro (TEB)…