Quick Response Prevented Disruption After a Fiber Optic Line Was Cut

The Jacksonville, Florida, airspace was saved by the rapid activation of backup systems when a cut fiber optic line caused a radar and communications outage at the local Air Route Traffic Control Center. Controllers in other recent incidents, however, have not gotten so lucky.

The Jacksonville center oversees approximately 160,000 square miles of airspace covering most of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and parts of the Carolinas, making it one of the busiest air traffic facilities in the country. According to the FAA, the system outage was momentary and did not result in any loss of critical air traffic services. Operations remained on alert status until the issue was resolved.

Repair crews from the FAA’s telecom contractors and L3Harris were quickly dispatched to restore the damaged line. The agency has not yet disclosed the exact location or cause of the fiber cut.

The incident posed a stark contrast to a similar radar failure earlier this year at Philadelphia’s air traffic facility, where a delay in backup activation led to significant disruptions. The 90-second period in the dark brought back memories of an eerily similar incident on April 28, which led to the cancellation of more than 1,000 flights and even sent five air traffic controllers into trauma leave.

There was a second outage on May 11, causing a 45-minute ground stop for inbound Newark flights. Operations were then able to resume, but not before 67 flights were delayed and 79 canceled.

The Philadelphia case brought national attention to the aging infrastructure behind the US air traffic control system, much of which still relies on decades-old copper wiring. The Department of Transportation has since increased its push for modernization, proposing multi-billion-dollar investments in fiber-based systems. With fiber-optic lines still vulnerable to physical damage, the improvements would also cover robust contingency systems… ones that actually activate when needed.

FMI: www.faa.gov