Outages Highlight Air Traffic Control Safety Gaps

A communications outage at Denver's air traffic control facility left up to 20 commercial aircraft unable to contact controllers for about 90 seconds, raising concerns about the aging infrastructure of U.S. air traffic control systems. Controllers quickly switched to backup frequencies, and the FAA reported no operational impacts, but the incident underscored systemic vulnerabilities. Separately, a critical hotline between the Pentagon and air traffic controllers at Reagan National Airport has been inoperable since March 2022, a fact only recently discovered after a deadly helicopter and passenger jet collision earlier this year. The outage may have contributed to a recent near miss at Reagan, prompting the Army to suspend helicopter flights nearby and lawmakers to demand urgent repairs. Both incidents highlight ongoing safety and communication issues in U.S. airspace management. Calls for modernization and improved oversight of air traffic control systems have intensified.