Radar went black for air traffic controllers at Newark Airport again

NEWARK, New Jersey -- Radar screens at Newark Airport went black again early Friday morning.

Air traffic controllers could be heard telling a FedEx plane that their screens went dark and then asked them to tell their company to put pressure on to get the problem fixed.

In another transmission, you can hear the controller telling a private jet arriving from Cyprus that they just had a brief radar outage and to stay at or above 3,000 feet in case they can't get in touch during their descent.

The brief outage happened at 3:55 a.m.

The FAA released a statement saying, "There was a telecommunications outage that impacted communications and radar display at Philadelphia TRACON Area C, which guides aircraft in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport airspace. The outage occurred around 3:55 a.m. on Friday, May 9, and lasted approximately 90 seconds."

Nearly two weeks ago, an outage on April 28 caused air traffic control computer screens to go dark for roughly 60 to 90 seconds, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the incident. It prevented the controllers from talking to aircraft during this time as well.

That outage led to controllers walking off the job, causing cascading delays and cancelations over the past several days.

"Due to the event, the controllers took absence under the Federal Employees Compensation Act. This program covers all federal employees that are physically injured or experience a traumatic event on the job," the union representing the air traffic controllers said in a statement.

As of 6 a.m. Friday , there were 27 cancellations and delays.

Congressman Josh Gottheimer will hold a press conference on Friday to demand quick action to fix the air traffic control crisis that has triggered the travel disruptions we've been seeing for days.

This comes after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a plan for sweeping upgrades to America's air traffic control system.

"We are on it. We are going to fix it. We are going to build a brand new system for all of you and your families and the American people," Duffy said.

The plan, which could take three to four years to complete, includes fiber, wireless, and satellite technology.

But the upgrades would have to be done while still using the old system.

The proposed plan would cost around $15 billion to complete.

It would first need to be approved by Congress.