A construction accident on the East Coast caused flight delays at Harry Reid International Airport and other major airports Monday.
A work crew accidentally sliced through a backup communications cable in New Jersey causing a system that guides planes during take-offs and landings — called a Terminal Radar Approach Control System — to fail.
Aviation tracking website FlightAware reported 290 delays of 15 minutes or more at Reid late Monday, roughly 19 percent of the daily schedule.
Airports in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and New Jersey experienced the most delays during the day.
The delays are coming on the eve of the United Nations General Assembly, which will have more than 130 officials from around the world arriving in New York.
Reid Airport frequently is affected by flight delays in other parts of the country because planes departing from Las Vegas are initially delayed coming in.
FlightAware also indicated that 10 flights at Reid were canceled Monday. FlightAware currently is projecting three flight delays at Reid on Tuesday.
Telecommunications company Verizon first reported the accident and company representatives said crews were “actively working” to repair the cable. But Federal Aviation Administration Director Bryan Bedford said the repair process could take as long as 13 hours.
Airport officials recommend that passengers check with their airlines on the status of their flights.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.
