A Newark air traffic controller on how it felt when systems went dark

A Newark air traffic controller on how it felt when systems went darktoggle caption Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty ImagesThere had been warning signs before radar and communications systems went dark at the facility that manages the airspace around Newark Liberty International Airport, according to an air traffic controller who was on duty during one of those failures. The incidents have raised big questions about how the air traffic control mess in Newark got as bad as it did, and what it will take to fix an aging air traffic control system. And they prompted one air traffic controller to share their perspective in an interview with NPR this week. And United CEO Scott Kirby put some of the blame on air traffic controllers in a public message to customers . "What we must do now is modernize the system, give the air traffic controllers the equipment they deserve, and not blame them for the issues that they're seeing," said Nick Daniels, the president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, in an interview.