Damaged fiber cable halts Houston flights, prompts FAA ground stop
A construction crew severed a fiber-optic cable at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Tuesday, leading the FAA to hold flights bound for Houston. Repairs were underway and further delays were expected through the evening.
A fiber-optic cable was cut at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on Tuesday evening, disrupting operations and triggering a ground stop for inbound flights, according to Houston Airports. The airport said a construction contractor caused the damage earlier in the day.
The FAA issued the ground stop Tuesday evening and warned that it could widen. In an operations advisory, the agency said the airport had lost major communications and that the restriction would likely be extended and expanded.
Nearby William P. Hobby Airport was unaffected, the FAA said, along with other fields in the Houston terminal area.
Repair crews were working at the site, Houston Airports said, and it cautioned that more delays and cancellations were possible later in the evening. International arrivals could also face longer processing times through U.S. Customs. The airport said it was coordinating with airlines and Customs and Border Protection.
The disruption came a day after a similar outage at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, where a contractor cut a fiber cable during work nearby. That incident led to several FAA ground stops, flight cancellations and arrival delays of more than two hours.
Both events occurred as the FAA pursues work to modernize its air traffic communications infrastructure.
Sources
- avweb.comSevered Fiber Line Disrupts Houston Air Traffic