A severed Verizon fiber cable in New Jersey caused hundreds of flights to be canceled or delayed across the US, with over 1,000 flights affected and major airports in the Northeast disrupted. Repairs have been completed, but delays persist as operations resume.
<figure>
<img alt="" data-caption="A JetBlue airplane past an FAA air traffic control tower at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. JetBlue Airways Corp. is expected to release earnings figures on October 28. Photographer: Ryan Collerd/Bloomberg via Getty Images | Bloomberg via Getty Images" data-portal-copyright="Bloomberg via Getty Images" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/gettyimages-2242804026.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100" />
<figcaption>
A JetBlue airplane past an FAA air traffic control tower at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. JetBlue Airways Corp. is expected to release earnings figures on October 28. Photographer: Ryan Collerd/Bloomberg via Getty Images | Bloomberg via Getty Images </figcaption>
</figure>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Hundreds of flights were cancelled or delayed on Monday after construction crews in New Jersey accidentally cut a Verizon fiber cable used for air traffic control. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said that a circuit failure led to the discovery of the severed fiber cable, <a href="https://abcnews.com/US/northeast-airspace-closing-30-minutes-due-equipment-outage/story?id=136626017" data-type="link" data-id="https://abcnews.com/US/northeast-airspace-closing-30-minutes-due-equipment-outage/story?id=136626017">ABC News reports</a>. The outage hammered airports across the Northeast, causing ground stops at all three major New York City airports.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In a statement <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/21/newark-philadelphia-nyc-flight-disruptions.html" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/21/newark-philadelphia-nyc-flight-disruptions.html">to CNBC</a>, Verizon said that it bore "no responsibility for this incident," putting the blame on "construction contractors working in the area" that "dug up and cut our cable." </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Ironically, it looks like trains make have taken …</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/transportation/998550/a-cut-cable-disrupted-hundreds-of-flights-across-the-us">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>
# A cut cable disrupted hundreds of flights across the US
Source: [https://www.theverge.com/transportation/998550/a-cut-cable-disrupted-hundreds-of-flights-across-the-us](https://www.theverge.com/transportation/998550/a-cut-cable-disrupted-hundreds-of-flights-across-the-us)
[](https://www.theverge.com/authors/tc-sottek)
TC Sottek
is a senior editor who has obsessed over headlines and internet speeds since 2011\. He previously worked as an advocate for the National Park System\.
Hundreds of flights were cancelled or delayed on Monday after construction crews in New Jersey accidentally cut a Verizon fiber cable used for air traffic control\.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said that a circuit failure led to the discovery of the severed fiber cable,[ABC News reports](https://abcnews.com/US/northeast-airspace-closing-30-minutes-due-equipment-outage/story?id=136626017)\. The outage hammered airports across the Northeast, causing ground stops at all three major New York City airports\.
In a statement[to CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/21/newark-philadelphia-nyc-flight-disruptions.html), Verizon said that it bore “no responsibility for this incident,” putting the blame on “construction contractors working in the area” that “dug up and cut our cable\.”
Ironically, it looks like trains make have taken out the planes, but fingers are still being pointed\. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy[said an Amtrak crew](https://x.com/SecDuffy/status/2102108053265146352)accidentally cut the line, but[AP reports](https://apnews.com/article/faa-flights-laguardia-newark-jfk-airport-85e2321733ff604f7a5e93ce136945b9)that Amtrak blames a New Jersey Transit crew for the disruption\. “This incident occurred on New Jersey Transit property and involved a New Jersey Transit contractor,” an Amtrak spokesperson[told NBC4](https://www.nbcnewyork.com/new-jersey/newark-airport-ground-stop-equipment-issues/6550060/)\.
As of Monday evening, Duffy said that “the telecom lines have been repaired, and all airport operations in the Northeast are resuming,” but cautioned that it will take “some time to clear all existing delays\.” According to FlightAware, there were over 1,000 canceled flights today in the US
**Follow topics and authors**from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates\.
- TC Sottek
The NCTA cable lobby is petitioning the FCC for an expedited waiver of its ban on foreign-made routers, citing unavoidable supply chain shortages in memory and substrate materials that could disrupt broadband service for millions of Americans. The FCC previously granted a similar one-year waiver to AT&T's suppliers, and NCTA argues its members are in the same situation.
US cities and counties are opposing a proposed FCC plan to preempt local rules for broadband deployment, arguing it undermines public safety and that ISPs often cause delays themselves.
The Supreme Court rejected Verizon's bid for a $47 million refund from an FCC fine for selling user location data without consent, concluding this specific legal challenge amid ongoing disputes from other telecom carriers.
A nationwide problem with the GSM-R digital communication system forced Deutsche Bahn to halt all trains in Germany on Tuesday evening, stranding passengers. Technicians are working on a solution.