North-East Airport Ground Stop Highlights Aviation Cybersecurity Gaps

On Monday morning, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered an immediate ground stop for Newark Liberty International, Philadelphia International and Teterboro airports after a radio-equipment failure disrupted frequencies at the Philadelphia terminal radar approach control (TRACON). The interruption began around 10 a.m. and lasted until early afternoon, halting arrivals and departures across the region. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy later explained that an Amtrak construction crew accidentally severed a fiber line that provides internet service, triggering a telecommunications crash that affected the air-traffic communication system.

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The incident follows a series of recent outages at Newark, including an April 2025 event that blanked controllers’ screens for up to 90 seconds. It coincided with the release of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that found the FAA has not completed risk assessments or updated security documentation for threats such as spoofing, jamming and other radio-spectrum attacks. The GAO noted that two legacy systems used to send text messages to aircraft lack modern encryption and other cybersecurity protections.

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Senator Ron Wyden, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called the GAO findings “sobering,” warning that insecure communications could be intercepted, impersonated or jammed by hackers or foreign governments, endangering passengers. The Department of Transportation, responding on behalf of the FAA, agreed with all nine GAO recommendations, which include formal risk assessments of seven of eight reviewed systems, continuous monitoring for interference, and guidance on information sharing. The FAA has since moved the Philadelphia TRACON to a new dual-path fiber-optic link with New York to improve reliability.

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• The FAA manages more than 44,000 flights daily and transports roughly 3 million passengers.

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• The GAO identified nine specific recommendations to strengthen aviation communications security.

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• Two text-messaging systems in use predate modern cybersecurity standards and lack encryption.

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• “The FAA’s failure to require the aviation industry to use secure communications is a major threat to US national security, to our economy and the safety of the flying public,” — Ron Wyden, the US senator for Oregon

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• “This sobering report from [the] GAO reveals that the technology used by air traffic controllers to communicate with aircraft is incredibly insecure, can be intercepted, impersonated, and jammed, and that hackers and foreign governments can exploit these vulnerabilities to disrupt air travel and even put passengers at risk.” — Ron Wyden, the US senator for Oregon

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