Planes, the internal complaints of the US flight controllers: « It is only a matter of time before many people die »

On Monday 5 May, after yet another instrumental block at the Radar center that covers Newark airport, two private jets approached a little too much in flight, a controller delivered an « internal safety ratio ». « The situation was, it is and continues to be dangerousand it’s just a matter of time before many people die, « he writes. « The radar equipment and the one for communications are dangerous to use or are unusable, » he continues. Then the complaint: « The amount of stress we are subjected to is unsustainable».

The chaos at the « tracon »

The blackouts at the « tracon » (Radar Approach Control Terminal) of Philadelphia – the area control center that manages significant portions of traffic -, the April 28th and on May 9, both lasting about a minute and a half, they reach the climax of months of reporting to malfunctions, accusations and recriminations on the situation of a delicate room because he has to manage movements to Newark Liberty International Airportone of the references of New York and among the busiest in the United States.

The « safety reports »

Reading the « Internal Safety Report »of those, anonymous, deposited with the special management of NASA, the audio recordings of air traffic and tracks of hundreds of flights They show a picture of uncertainty that has been going on for some time. Several times, from the summer 2024, Newark’s rapprochement controllers have had the radar or radio signal out of use, cut out of the possibility of communicating with the planes they were managing at that moment.

The logistics gearbox

The input and exit movements in the three main stops of New York – JFK, Laguardia and Newark – have always been managed by the Radar Center located in Long Island. But the deficiency of controllers – there are 10,700 certificates, to date, 3 thousand are missing throughout the country – He pushed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to transfer about twenty professionals to Philadelphia in July 2024 and the management of the area around Newark. It is from that moment that the representative organizations of the category report a worsening of the critical issues on the airport found in New Jersey, but above all the « Big Apple » basin is needed.

The first problems

In a report in August, a controller tells that – due to some failures – the radar centers of Philadelphia (for Newark) and Long Island (for Laguardia and Jfk) they asked the planes of the respective areas of competence to do all together on the same path To avoid some thunderstorms in different parts. Aircraft that, reads, “They converged at high speed at the same altitude». A coordination that did not happen « since the controllers of the three airports of New York no longer work in the same room » and this « led to one incredibly dangerous situation. The fact that there has not been a collision in catastrophic flight is only a matter of luck ».

The case in November

The problems continued even in September and October. With a peak in November. “I was working on departures when We had a total interruption of frequencies throughout the sector»A controller writes anonymously in the internal report. «We didn’t even have the emergency frequency and the emergency headphones were out of use. We had to Contact other control centers to reach our planes through the emergency frequency». « Find out what the problem is and solve it – it’s the appeal to the superiors -. It is not the first time that we have any frequency problems lately ».

What happened on November 6th

November 6, 2024 was a day of particular chaos. For about two minutes – And the circumstance is also confirmed by the audio collected by the Liveatc site – The flight controllers of the Newark area were unable to communicate with the planes under management. « Nobody answers, » says a pilot – in flight – to a colleague on another plane, at altitude too. « It seems that they are not talking to any aircraft. » « We have lost all the frequencies and communications here, » they told the Radar Center later.

The cargo plane without control

But in those same moments there could be the disaster. During the Blackout – caused by the copper cables between Long Island and Philadelphia – Both the main radio transmission system and the reserve system have stopped working. Without more the possibility of talking to the controller who was guiding him towards Newark, A Boeing 767 by Fedex (goods shipping) flew the airport in New Jersey, then the Hudson and Manhattan river, Finishing in the airspace reserved for coming flights and departing on the lagoon. In the room in Filadelfia, those present at local broadcasters told, there was the race to warn the other airports that there was an off -course plane.

The blocks of the last few days

Thus we arrive at April 28, another troubled day. For 87 seconds the communications between « tracon » of Philadelphia and the flights approaching Newark are stopped. « I have to give you three different frequencies with which to connect with the Radar Center because two of these may not workonly that we do not know what they are », communicates a controller to a aircraft for health transport. «Frequency 19.2 is the one you must call first. If you do not receive an answer then contact 26.7. If it doesn’t even work, then contact the approach of New York, 120.85 ». Another block was there The night between 8 and 9 May.

Urgent interventions

La Faa in a note sent to the press declares « that he has I immediate actions to improve the reliability of operations »in Newarkenhancing the staff and updating technology in the Filadelphia headquarters. For this he will install « three new high -capacity telecommunication connections » between New York and Philadelphia, « It will replace copper cables with optical fiber and install a backup system ».

Systems of 60 years ago

In the « census » of 2023 On 138 air traffic control systems about forty are installed over 30 years ago and even over 60 years ago. Many structures continue to be connected through copper telephone lines, when most of them use the optical fiber in Europe. Every weekaccording to the internal calculations of the FAA, The US radar centers record 650-700 communications interruptionsthat is, an average of one hundred a day.