Severed Cable Causes Hundreds of Flight Delays in US
A cut fibre-optic line in New Jersey triggered ground stops across major New York airports
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled or delayed across the United States after a fibre-optic cable used for air traffic control was accidentally severed during construction work in New Jersey. As reported by The Verge, the incident caused severe disruption to flight schedules at airports across the country's north-east.
The damaged cable belonged to telecoms company Verizon and was relied upon by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to manage air traffic. According to ABC News, FAA administrator Bryan Bedford said that a circuit failure led technicians to identify the damaged fibre-optic cable.
The technical glitch hit the New York metropolitan area hardest. Due to the failure, ground stops were ordered across all three major New York-area airports. As a result, hundreds of flights operated by JetBlue and other major carriers were delayed or cancelled altogether.
Who is responsible for the failure?
In an official statement to CNBC, Verizon insisted it bears no responsibility for the disruption. The telecoms giant explained that third-party construction contractors working in the area were entirely at fault after cutting through the underground cable during excavation work.
The incident underlines how vulnerable modern aviation and critical infrastructure remain to physical communications networks. Even a single damaged fibre-optic line can bring major transport hubs to a standstill for hours. Industry experts point out that such failures make the rollout of redundant, backup communication systems increasingly urgent to prevent single points of failure from grounding air travel across an entire region.