Air traffic controllers for Newark airport lost radar again for 90 seconds: FAA

NEW JERSEY - Newark airport is not out of the woods yet.

A second radar blackout

What we know:

Air traffic controllers directing planes into Newark Liberty International Airport lost their radar Friday morning, the second time in two weeks.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed the radar went black for 90 seconds at 3:55 a.m. Friday morning. A similar incident occurred on April 28, which prompted workers overseeing the air traffic at the time to go on leave.

The first radar outage was the catalyst for the current state of the flights coming into and leaving the airport; hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled, and the domino effect has yet to let up.

New Jersey Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Josh Gottheimer said that the airport is "short 40 traffic controllers" and that "the air tower they work in was built in 1973" at a press conference, according to FOX 5 NY's Meredith Gorman.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a multi-billion-dollar plan Thursday to replace the country's current air traffic control system. Duffy told FOX News, "We're hiring more air traffic controllers, we're fixing the system, but it's going to take time."

Duffy's plans include offering a bonus to air traffic controllers who stay past their retirement date and expanding the pipeline at the FAA's training academy for controllers, which is located in Oklahoma City.

The FAA announced earlier this week that it plans to install new fiber optic data lines to carry the radar signal between its facilities in Philadelphia and New York.