After reports that the radar screens at Newark Liberty International Airport went dark early Friday morning—following weeks of crisis-level conditions that have threatened passenger safety, worker conditions, and functionality of the aviation hub in her district—Rep. LaMonica McIver (NJ-10) released the following statement:

“The latest reported radar blackout at Newark airport is unacceptable and horrifying. For about a minute and a half, our air traffic controllers were unable to monitor planes in the sky—the safety implications of this are staggering and we’re lucky no one was hurt,” said Rep. McIver. “I’ve been in contact with the FAA and Secretary of Transportation, calling on them to take this seriously by modernizing technology, doing more for air traffic controllers, and meeting with us immediately to tackle this problem head on. I’m in close communication with our airlines and transit workers on the ground and it’s clear: we cannot wait a moment to fix this.”

McIver has been a vocal advocate for immediate action at Newark airport and improvements to the TRACON center that supports it. McIver led her colleagues in calling on the FAA and DoT to immediately address the ongoing airport crisis and urgently meet with members of Congress to address this issue. She has also called for an investigation by the House Oversight Committee to identify the root causes of staffing shortages and a plan to resolve the issues at Newark airport, and she has pushed for a stoppage of all non-essential helicopter traffic in the area to preserve the slim resources available to the airport, airlines, and their workers.