On a Monday afternoon in September, a misplaced marker and a contractor's shovel severed a single telecommunications cable beneath New Jersey, and within moments the skies over four states fell into disarray. The Terminal Radar Approach Control system — the quiet, invisible architecture that guides thousands of aircraft safely to earth each day — lost its backup, and the fragility beneath modern aviation's confidence became briefly, painfully visible. Repairs came within hours, but the episode offered a sober reminder that the systems holding civilization aloft are often only as strong as the
US East Coast airports resume operations after construction cable cut disrupts hundreds of flights
Hundreds of passengers experienced significant delays, with some flights diverted to alternate airports and passengers stranded on tarmacs for extended periods.