The Wall Street Journal’s Andrew Tangel discusses a troubling recent communication loss for air-traffic controllers, and how it has served as a wake-up call. India struck sites in Pakistan, causing global concern. The Washington Post has more. Today the conclave to elect a new pope begins. NPR’s Bill Chappell takes us inside the secretive process. Plus, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration’s ban on transgender people in the military to take effect, Canada’s new prime minister met with Trump, and another update about Real IDs. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu.
Chapter 1: What are the key events discussed in today's episode?
Good morning. It's Wednesday, May 7th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. The conclave to choose a new pope begins today. And a mostly cordial meeting between Canada's new prime minister and President Trump.
Chapter 2: What happened during the communication loss at Newark Airport?
But first, to last week's communications meltdown at Newark Airport that put air traffic controllers completely in the dark and set off a chain reaction that's still resulting in canceled and delayed flights. Yesterday, audio from air traffic control was released, offering us a window into the incident.
No, you do not have a Bravo clearance. We lost our radar and it's not working correctly. Radar service terminates, squawk VFR, green screen approved. If you want a Bravo clearance, you can just call the towers when you get closer. Okay, I'll wait for that frequency from you, okay? Okay, no, just squawk VFR, look up the tower frequencies. We don't have a radar, so I don't know where you are.
Chapter 3: How did air traffic controllers manage the radar blackout?
We called up Andrew Tangle, who covers aviation safety and regulation for the Wall Street Journal, to tell us what was happening there.
They lost their radios and their radars for about 90 seconds, and they couldn't communicate with pilots. And that was a very scary situation for the controllers. They are managing Busy, complex airspace, and they keep airplanes safely separated. They tell them where to go, where to point the nose, how fast to go, all of that, and keep them out of harm's way.
And they do that with the tools that went dead.
This blackout meant controllers couldn't see where each plane was, and their backup systems didn't work.
There are planes taking off, landing, going hundreds of miles per hour. They're all in sequence. They need to know where not to fly. They need to know not to go in a certain direction to not have a conflict with another aircraft and crash into it.
And when the basic tools that air traffic controllers use don't work, it's very scary for them, but it raises obvious safety issues for the traveling public.
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Chapter 4: What measures are being taken to modernize air traffic control systems?
Ultimately, there were no crashes. Thousands of flights have been delayed or canceled since, and dozens more were diverted to other airports. Tangle says the whole experience was traumatizing for the controllers. Their union has said that many have since taken trauma leave. As for the cause, the Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has blamed, quote, antiquated technology.
He says he'll propose a plan to modernize the air traffic system later this week that will cost tens of billions of dollars. What happened at Newark, along with other recent aviation disasters like the fatal collision near Reagan National Airport in January, have put longstanding problems in the industry into sharp focus.
Air traffic control alone has been facing issues for years due to inadequate funding, dated systems, and staffing shortages. The report from the Government Accountability Office last year found that close to three-quarters of air traffic systems were obsolete or potentially too hard to fix or maintain. The FAA says it's understaffed by about 3,000 fully certified controllers nationwide.
So that results in controllers needing to work six-day weeks, 10-hour days. There are reports of fatigue, stress, and so forth. I mean, controllers are known to like overtime, but some say that after a while, they'd rather have a better life-work balance.
Duffy has rolled out new incentives aimed at increasing the number of certified controllers. In February, he announced a 30 percent pay increase for students at the Air Traffic Academy. More recently, he announced the FAA will give $5,000 to all graduates of that academy. And he announced annual bonuses for air traffic controllers who are eligible for retirement but choose to stay on the job.
So far, controllers have been exempt from federal workforce cuts. As for what's going on at Newark Airport, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has now called for an investigation, and it remains unclear how long it'll take for flights to resume their regular schedules.
Now let's turn to some major military developments in Southeast Asia, as the world is watching nervously after India sent a series of strikes into Pakistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Pakistan responded, according to an army spokesman, by shooting down Indian jet fighters.
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Chapter 5: What are the recent tensions between India and Pakistan?
The strikes follow a recent militant attack in a part of Indian-administered Kashmir in April, which killed 26 people, primarily Indian tourists. India has accused Pakistan of having links to last month's attack, which Pakistan has denied. A video shared by Reuters appeared to capture the moment bombs descended near the Pakistani-administered city of Muzaffarabad.
According to Pakistani officials, multiple civilians, including children, have died. We are now in the midst of a standoff between two nuclear powers engaged in some of the most dangerous fighting in years. But so far, there's a lot of disagreement between them on what's taken place. Pakistan described India's attack as an act of war and said it will not go unpunished.
An armed forces spokesperson claimed they had specifically targeted places of worship in a BBC interview. But India says it struck sites of, quote, terrorist infrastructure and insisted its actions were, quote, measured, responsible and designed to be non-escalatory. Yesterday, President Trump was asked about the strikes shortly after they happened.
It's a shame we just heard about it just as we were walking in the doors of the Oval. Just heard about it. I guess people knew something was going to happen based on a little bit of the past. They've been fighting for a long time. You know, they've been fighting for many, many decades and centuries, actually, if you really think about it. No, I just hope it ends very quickly.
Chapter 6: How has President Trump responded to the India-Pakistan conflict?
The Washington Post reports over the last week the United States has been urging de-escalation between the two countries. A spokesperson for the U.N. secretary general expressed concern, saying, quote, the world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan.
This is not the first time the two countries have come dangerously close to escalation over Kashmir, a divided area that both make a claim to. There have been attacks as recently as 2016 and 2019, but they targeted security forces based in the region.
Thank you.
Conclave, the process to select a new pope, begins today. It's a centuries-old Catholic tradition where cardinal electors from around the world come to the Vatican, take an oath of secrecy, lock the doors of the Sistine Chapel, and stay there until they select a new pontiff. In fact, the word conclave, which comes from the Latin with key, literally refers to being locked in.
Bill Chappell, a correspondent for NPR, told us about the voting process.
The ballots themselves will be secret. It's recommended for cardinals to use a handwriting style that's not necessarily highly identifiable to their own.
And the commitment to secrecy extends beyond the cardinals. Workers at the chapel are instructed to sweep the room for bugs to make sure nothing gets recorded and leaked to the press. Selecting a new pope will require a two-thirds majority vote from the 135 eligible electors, all of whom are men.
If there's no clear winner from that with the two-thirds majority, those ballots will be added to a pile that will then be burned to signal to people outside of the Sistine Chapel with black smoke that there's no new pope and the process will still have to continue.
The process can go on for days. When a pope is eventually selected, white smoke is the signal and the largest bell at St. Peter's Basilica will ring. The new pontiff is then asked two questions.
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