Fiber-cut outage grounds Northeast air traffic, halting Newark to Philadelphia flights

A fiber-optic break caused by a New Jersey construction site knocked out a backup circuit at Philadelphia’s TRACON, forcing the FAA to pause flights into Newark, Teterboro, and Philadelphia and later expanding ground stops to LaGuardia and JFK. The disruption led to hundreds of cancellations and delays across the region, with officials estimating the repair could take hours and a replacement circuit could be installed by Monday afternoon.