Developing story · The live desk
Telecommunications failures disrupt thousands of US flights
Updates appear here as they are verified. Last update
Primary-circuit failure and severed backup fiber trigger East Coast ground stops
A failed telecommunications circuit and a severed backup fiber-optic cable forced the FAA to halt incoming flights at major New York-area and Philadelphia airports on September 21. Boston Logan separately stopped accepting flights because of spillover traffic volume. FlightAware counted more than 5,600 US cancellations or delays, while over 100 flights were diverted. Officials said an Amtrak construction crew accidentally cut Verizon fiber in New Jersey. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said a replacement circuit was ready to install and that incoming traffic would resume only after safety checks. The retrieved report does not establish when service will fully normalize. This briefing covers 2026-09-20T08:23:40.676Z through 2026-09-21T20:23:40.676Z. The timestamp is Reuters publication metadata, not the outage time.
Reuters: US halts flights at busy East Coast airports after fiber line cut