The air traffic control crisis is nationwide, but it’s most acute at the New York area’s second-busiest airport.

The United States’ air traffic control system faces a severe staffing crisis that threatens to worsen flight delays and disrupt travel plans across the country.

An air traffic controller who works the airspace around Newark, N.J. speaks out about what it was like to lose radar and communication systems during a shift, and how the situation got to be so bad.