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Flight fiasco lingers as delays at JFK, LaGuardia and EWR persist after cable cutting incident
Gothamist • • business
Key Points:
- A severed fiber optic cable in New Jersey on Monday morning caused a telecom outage, leading to significant flight delays and cancellations at New York area airports, particularly Newark Airport.
- As of Tuesday morning, Newark Airport had 58 flight cancellations and 53 delays, JFK had 7 cancellations and 46 delays, and LaGuardia had 4 cancellations and 16 delays, though the exact connection to Monday’s incident was unclear.
- The U.S. Department of Transportation initially blamed an Amtrak construction crew, but NJ Transit later stated their crew accidentally cut the cable while working near utility markings, suggesting possible mis-marking by Verizon or another contractor.
- NJ Transit reported that over half of the 56 affected fiber cables were tested and coming back online, with repair efforts ongoing at the site.
- Verizon and Amtrak have not yet responded to requests for comment regarding the incident.
