A damaged fiber-optic cable disrupted air traffic at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston on Tuesday evening, prompting an FAA ground stop and significant flight delays. According to Houston Airports, a construction contractor damaged the cable earlier in the day, affecting airport operations.
FAA Warns of Communications Loss
The FAA issued a ground stop for flights bound for the airport Tuesday evening. The agency subsequently warned that the restrictions could be extended to additional flights.
“IAH has lost major communications and users can expect the current ground stop to be extended and expanded,” the FAA said in an operations advisory Tuesday evening.
The agency said the outage was not affecting nearby William P. Hobby Airport or other airports in the Houston terminal area.
Repairs Underway
Houston Airports said repair crews were on-site and warned that additional delays and cancellations were possible throughout the evening. International arrivals could also experience longer processing times through U.S. Customs. The airport was coordinating with airlines and Customs and Border Protection to manage the disruption.
The Houston disruption follows a similar outage Monday at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, where a contractor severed a fiber-optic cable during nearby work. That incident resulted in multiple FAA ground stops, flight cancellations and arrival delays exceeding two hours.
Both disruptions come as the FAA continues efforts to modernize its aging air traffic communications infrastructure.
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