Inside Newark Airport’s Chilling 90-Second Blackout

When the computer screens shut off without warning, the room erupted in panic. First came curses, then tears.

On April 28 at about 1:27 p.m. local time, the air traffic controllers monitoring the skies above New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport came face to face with their worst-case scenario: With radar and radio contact suddenly cut, they couldn’t communicate with the dozens of aircraft coming in or out of one of the most congested airspaces in the US.