FAA halts flights to Newark and Philadelphia over air traffic control communications failure
The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily grounded flights into two major Northeast airports on September 21 due to frequency issues at an air traffic control facility.
What to know
- The FAA temporarily halted all flights into Newark and Philadelphia airports on September 21 due to communications issues at an air traffic control facility.
- Aircraft grounded at Newark exceeded federal tarmac time limits, forcing planes to return to gates and stranding passengers.
- Cascading diversions affected multiple Northeast airports, with limited real-time information provided to passengers.
The dispute Whether the incident stems from recent AI integration efforts at the FAA, infrastructure damage during renovations, or broader systemic incompetence remains contested in the comments, with limited official information available. · positions read across 64 posts and comments
This reflects broader incompetence and mismanagement by the current administration and Transportation Secretary.
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“If one didn't know better they could swear that Sean Duffy is bad at his job.”
vardm-65.bsky.social · Bluesky ↗
This incident reflects concerning gaps in FAA operations, communications infrastructure, and emergency response capabilities.
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“Seems like tickets on flights going to or thru DC airports for the next 90 days should come with informed consent forms for human subjects testing.”
lizzie-in-ca.bsky.social · Bluesky ↗
AI integration into FAA systems may be related to or responsible for the communications failure.
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“A I fails, again, as expected. It is an unfinished megalomaniacal project that should rein itself in and be used for scientific advancement, period.”
martigo.bsky.social · Bluesky ↗
Federal Aviation Administration Air traffic control regulator
Sean Duffy U.S. Transportation Secretary
How it unfolded 3 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump postscomments
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Multiple airports affected as diversions cascade across Northeast
Flights diverted from Newark and Philadelphia led to further disruptions at other Northeast airports. One passenger reported being diverted from Chicago to Newark, then to Rochester, and finally landing in Cleveland, with little information provided during the process.
“I was headed from ORD to EWR - had to circle over eastern PA for a while before we diverted to Rochester. Pilot said Rochester is impacted too (?) so we've now landed in Cleveland and have been sitting on the tarmac here.”
— lostcompass.bsky.social -
Seems like tickets on flights going to or thru DC airports for the next 90 days should come with informed consent forms for human subjects testing.
2 more of the top 3 · 42 posts in this stretch
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I was headed from ORD to EWR - had to circle over eastern PA for a while before we diverted to Rochester. Pilot said Rochester is impacted too (?) so we’ve now landed in Cleveland and have been sitting on the tarmac here. Apparently there was a conf call between airlines and FAA but no new info.
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And unclear if this is related or not but our plane’s WiFi went down right around when we got the diversion direction. Seems a little odd to lose that at the same time (although I’m old enough that most of my flight experience was well before we had WiFi on planes 🤣)
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Aircraft at Newark forced to return to gates under tarmac rule
Aircraft grounded at Newark exceeded the Department of Transportation's three-hour tarmac limit, forcing planes to return to gates to discharge passengers and creating a significant operational disruption.
“"temporarily" except the aircraft on the ground at EWR are hitting the DOT's 3-hour-tarmac rule and all having to return to gates to discharge passengers. HUGE mess.”
— squindar.bsky.social -
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"temporarily" except the aircraft on the ground at EWR are hitting the DOT's 3-hour-tarmac rule and all having to return to gates to discharge passengers. HUGE mess.
2 more of the top 3 · 8 posts in this stretch
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And of course Dumb Duffy (with a "b) is off doing god knows what.
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JFC! WE are in the stupidest time in history!
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FAA temporarily halts flights into Newark and Philadelphia airports
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a temporary halt on flights into Newark and Philadelphia airports due to communications issues affecting some frequencies at an air traffic control facility.
“S. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION TEMPORARILY HALTS FLIGHTS INTO NEWARK AND PHILADELPHIA AIRPORTS DUE TO COMMUNICATIONS ISSUES WITH SOME FREQUENCIES AT AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL FACILITY…”
— Federal Aviation Administration · source -
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* U.S. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION TEMPORARILY HALTS FLIGHTS INTO NEWARK AND PHILADELPHIA AIRPORTS DUE TO COMMUNICATIONS ISSUES WITH SOME FREQUENCIES AT AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL FACILITY -- AGENCY @reuters.com
2 more of the top 3 · 14 posts in this stretch
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whoops, looks like you’re right, those frequencies I gave you don’t actually exist. that’s on me.
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Not to worry. The 2,000 young video gamers the FAA hired for Air Traffic Control will fix it 🙃
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What people are saying 15 voices from 1 site · best of 64 · verbatim
- What is the exact cause of the communications issue at the air traffic control facility?
- Was the incident related to AI integration efforts mentioned by Transportation Secretary Duffy?
- How long will the flight halt remain in effect?
- Sep 21
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The FAA has grounded flights at New York, Boston, New Jersey, and Philadelphia airports after Trump's Department of Transportation accidentally cut a fiber line during Air Traffic Control system renovations.
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Golly, it looks like having a toddler and a mad man run things, problems are likely to ensue.
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I want live cam at the Philly airport for when the inconvenienced passengers vs ai rumble starts
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another "great American family roadtrip"
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"I have something important to tell you: when I said that airspace was clear, I hadn't actually checked. I now know that that was wrong--this accident is on me."
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A I fails, again, as expected. It is an unfinished megalomaniacal project that should rein itself in and be used for scientific advancement, period.
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If one didn't know better they could swear that Sean Duffy is bad at his job.
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it happened at this moment while a band was playing in a nearby hangar
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Could it be the new AI flight management system testing? I mean first thing I would attack is communications.
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DOGE did this. Duffy can’t fix it. Trump f‘s up everything he touches.
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Looks like we picked the wrong week s to fly anywhere. Have long haul (15 hr) flight this week....Planned months ago. N Korea shooting missiles and now FAA....🤦♀️
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Did they ever implement the AI integrations Duffy said they would be doing?
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Meanwhile, our Transportation Secretary is focused on removing 'DEI' bike lanes.
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Sean Duffy using those frequencies to call The Real World friends on walkie talkies
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Probably for the better. No one should have to fly into Newark