Kate Kelly

And what happened there was that an outside vendor working for the FAA accidentally clipped or unplugged literally a feed of data. Oh, my God. Yeah. So you could hear the air traffic controller who was dealing with the downed technology saying, attention all aircraft, radar contact is lost. Radar contact is lost when you listen to the audio recordings from that day.

And what happened there was that an outside vendor working for the FAA accidentally clipped or unplugged literally a feed of data. Oh, my God. Yeah. So you could hear the air traffic controller who was dealing with the downed technology saying, attention all aircraft, radar contact is lost. Radar contact is lost when you listen to the audio recordings from that day.

That was another 90-second outage.

That was another 90-second outage.

Yeah, I remember somebody who was around at the time told me they don't even necessarily care what the exact causes are of this outage, whether it's someone with a big pair of scissors or someone, you know, knocking a plug out of the wall. Regardless, this should be the Fort Knox of aviation data.

Yeah, I remember somebody who was around at the time told me they don't even necessarily care what the exact causes are of this outage, whether it's someone with a big pair of scissors or someone, you know, knocking a plug out of the wall. Regardless, this should be the Fort Knox of aviation data.

In other words, this should be an impenetrable system with multiple backups that is never permitted to fail.

In other words, this should be an impenetrable system with multiple backups that is never permitted to fail.

Yeah, Rachel, the technology really is problematic. But where you have a toxic combination here is when you throw in the fact that Newark has already been struggling for a while now with chronic staffing shortages. And all of that is impeding these controllers' ability to function.

Yeah, Rachel, the technology really is problematic. But where you have a toxic combination here is when you throw in the fact that Newark has already been struggling for a while now with chronic staffing shortages. And all of that is impeding these controllers' ability to function.

Yeah, so as your listeners know, because you guys have talked about this, there have been air traffic controller shortages nationwide. So why has Newark been a particular crux of the problem? It has to do with the complexity of it and the amount of experience that's needed and expected. So if you want to become an air traffic controller...

Yeah, so as your listeners know, because you guys have talked about this, there have been air traffic controller shortages nationwide. So why has Newark been a particular crux of the problem? It has to do with the complexity of it and the amount of experience that's needed and expected. So if you want to become an air traffic controller...

You would start with a training process in Oklahoma City, which is where the FAA's academy is. You would have had to apply for that and be admitted to the program. Then after that, you would probably go to a pretty light airspace, at least relative to these New York City airspaces, Fargo, North Dakota, for example. Hmm.

You would start with a training process in Oklahoma City, which is where the FAA's academy is. You would have had to apply for that and be admitted to the program. Then after that, you would probably go to a pretty light airspace, at least relative to these New York City airspaces, Fargo, North Dakota, for example. Hmm.

And maybe you would do that for a couple of years, and maybe after that, you would do something like Indianapolis, Indiana. And then after you had done that for a while, you might eventually work your way up to an airspace like Newark.

And maybe you would do that for a couple of years, and maybe after that, you would do something like Indianapolis, Indiana. And then after you had done that for a while, you might eventually work your way up to an airspace like Newark.

But even when you arrived at Newark, even if you were coming from a major airport like O'Hare, you would still need to train for roughly a year to learn all the nuances and all the techniques associated with that Newark airspace. Right.

But even when you arrived at Newark, even if you were coming from a major airport like O'Hare, you would still need to train for roughly a year to learn all the nuances and all the techniques associated with that Newark airspace. Right.

So even if today the FAA identified 10 new people that it wanted to send to do air traffic control at Newark, that would be a year, give or take, before they'd be ready.

So even if today the FAA identified 10 new people that it wanted to send to do air traffic control at Newark, that would be a year, give or take, before they'd be ready.