XPost: nj.politics, rec.aviation.piloting, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   XPost: sac.politics, talk.politics.guns   
   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   Air traffic controllers in Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control   
   had been guiding planes to Newark Liberty International Airport in New   
   Jersey last week when communication went down.   
      
   “Approach, are you there?” one pilot asked the controller, who had stopped   
   responding. United Airlines flight 1951, flying from New Orleans to   
   Newark, a major hub for the company, tried to radio the controller five   
   times before they got a response.   
      
   “United 1951, how do you hear me?” the controller finally asks, according   
   to air traffic control conversations recorded by the website LiveATC.net.   
      
   “I got you loud and clear, United 1951,” the pilot responds.   
      
   But those 30 seconds of silence when communication went down ultimately   
   cascaded into a weeklong meltdown at Newark, one of the nation’s largest   
   airports. It resulted in delays and cancellations for thousands of   
   customers, controllers taking leave for trauma, and renewed scrutiny on an   
   outdated air traffic control system.   
      
   The chaos also highlighted the challenges of an understaffed air traffic   
   control system, the latest incident in an already turbulent year for   
   aviation that included a deadly collision between a passenger jet and US   
   army helicopter.   
      
   “I don’t know where you are”   
   Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Fox News Monday traffic   
   controllers had lost the primary communication and the backup line did not   
   immediately take over. Audio obtained by CNN shows the tense moments from   
   the afternoon of April 28.   
      
   “United (flight) 674, radar contact lost,” a controller tells a pilot   
   flying to Newark from Charleston, South Carolina. “We lost our radar so   
   just stay on the arrival and maintain 6000 (feet).”   
      
   The same flight, traveling at hundreds of miles an hour, returns to the   
   radar but does not show up in an accurate position.   
      
   The connectivity between Federal Aviation Administration radar and the   
   frequencies that air traffic controllers use to manage planes flying in   
   and out of the airport “completely failed,” a source with knowledge of the   
   situation said. Without radar, another approach controller told the pilot   
   of a smaller aircraft to rely on towers for clearance.   
      
   “Do I have bravo clearance?” the pilot asks. Bravo clearance is permission   
   to enter into the airspace surrounding a larger airport, like Newark   
   Liberty International.   
      
   “No, you do not have a bravo clearance. We lost our radar and it’s not   
   working correctly. Radar service terminates… If you want a bravo   
   clearance, you can just call the tower when you get closer,” the   
   controller said.   
      
   About 15 – 20 flights were being controlled by Newark Liberty   
   International Airport approach controllers when communication and radar   
   went down on Monday, April 28, according to an analysis by flight tracking   
   site Flightradar24.   
      
   The number is based on the altitude of aircraft bound for and departing   
   Newark and audio from the approach radio frequency, Ian Petchenik, the   
   Director of Communications for the site tells CNN.   
      
   No crashes occurred, but at least five FAA employees took 45 days of   
   trauma leave afterward.   
      
   The incident has compounded existing staffing shortages and equipment   
   failures and contributed to frustrating hourslong delays for passengers,   
   Duffy told Fox News.   
      
   More than 150 flights into or out of the airport on Monday were canceled,   
   with more than 350 flights delayed, according to the flight tracking   
   website FlightAware.   
      
   The FAA has indicated it expects delays at the airport to continue due to   
   the staffing shortages. Duffy added that authorities will have to slow   
   traffic at Newark before restoring full capacity.   
      
   A traumatic event   
   The current shortage of air traffic controllers is nearly the worst in 30   
   years, said the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which   
   represents 10,800 certified air traffic controllers across the country.   
      
   The control facility responsible for traffic at Newark has been   
   “chronically understaffed for years,” United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said   
   in a Friday message addressing the delays. He also said the shortage was   
   compounded by over 20% of FAA controllers who “walked off the job” at   
   Newark Airport last week.   
      
   A CNN analysis of FAA airspace advisories shows at least 14 straight days   
   of FAA-imposed delays for flights to or from Newark.   
      
   The controller’s union said workers did not “walk off the job.”   
      
   “The controllers didn’t just walk off the job they were traumatized, their   
   equipment failed,” the source with knowledge of the situation said. “It’s   
   written in the regulations if they experience a traumatic event —they can   
   take time off to go see psychiatrist.. the people working that day did   
   that.”   
      
   But filling those empty positions is not an issue that can be sorted   
   overnight, according to the FAA.   
      
   Air traffic control applicants must be less than 31 years old so they can   
   work the mandatory 20 or 25 years needed to qualify for pensions before   
   their mandatory retirement age of 56, according to the FAA. Physical   
   stamina and mental sharpness is also required to do the job.   
      
   “While we cannot quickly replace (the controllers) due to this highly   
   specialized profession, we continue to train controllers who will   
   eventually be assigned to this busy airspace,” the FAA said.   
      
   A frail system in place   
   Flights arriving to Newark were experiencing an average delay of 4 hours   
   and 54 minutes as of Monday evening.   
      
   One passenger, Geraldine Wallace, told CNN Sunday she was anxious about   
   the staffing shortage after her flight was delayed for almost three hours.   
      
   Mark Wallace, her partner, told CNN he was more worried about equipment   
   failures.   
      
   “As concerning as the manpower issue is, according to news reports, the   
   equipment that they’re using out of Philadelphia is antiquated,” he said.   
      
   The Department of Transportation will announce a plan Thursday to   
   transform the air traffic control system, remodeling an outdated system   
   that contributed to days of delays at Newark International Airport, Duffy,   
   the transportation secretary, told Fox News on Monday.   
      
   The system used to manage air traffic at Newark is “incredibly old,” Duffy   
   said.   
      
   “We use floppy disks. We use copper wires,” he said Friday. “The system   
   that we’re using is not effective to control the traffic that we have in   
   the airspace today.”   
      
   Duffy has since pledged to implement a new, “state-of-the-art” system at   
   air traffic control facilities across the country that would be the “envy   
   of the world” – but said it might take three to four years.   
      
   “We are going to radically transform the way air traffic control looks,”   
   Duffy told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham.   
      
   President Donald Trump has “bought into the plan,” he said.   
      
   Duffy also reiterated that the airspace was still safe.   
      
      
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