Denver air traffic control went dark for 90 seconds, FAA confirms

Katie Langford, The Denver Post on May 15, 2025

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DENVER — Federal officials on Thursday confirmed a Denver7 report that the Denver Air Traffic Control Center lost communication with pilots on Monday afternoon but say the outage was for 90 seconds, not the six minutes first reported.

The station reported Wednesday that pilots flying into Denver International Airport couldn’t communicate with air traffic controllers for several minutes after multiple radio transmitters failed.

In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration said the control center in Longmont lost communications at around 1:50 p.m. Mountain time when both transmitters that cover a segment of airspace went down.

“Controllers used another frequency to relay instructions to pilots,” FAA officials said. “Aircraft remained safely separated and there were no impacts to operations. The FAA is investigating.”

According to Denver7’s report, up to 20 pilots couldn’t communicate with controllers as they approached the airport at around 2 p.m.

A controller was eventually able to contact a pilot using a guard line that’s typically reserved for pilots in distress, and that pilot told other pilots to change to the usable frequency.

DIA officials referred questions about the outage to the FAA.

The report comes as the FAA is under increased scrutiny because of recent crashes and other mishaps, which agency officials say are caused in part by staff shortages and aging equipment, according to The Associated Press.

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