Overview

• A temporary ground stop from about 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET halted inbound flights at Newark due to air traffic control communication issues, according to FAA bulletins.
• Controllers briefly lost radio frequencies, prompting holds on inbound aircraft and leading to some diversions to other regional airports, reporters and controllers said.
• The FAA set Newark’s arrival rate at 28 flights per hour until at least Friday, down from a typical 40–42 per hour and below the recently reduced 34 per hour.
• Average arrival delays exceeded two hours, and controllers were instructed to space inbound aircraft roughly 20 miles apart on approach.
• Thursday’s disruption was the second outage in 24 hours affecting the Philadelphia TRACON that manages Newark’s airspace, and the FAA said it is investigating the cause.