By David Shepardson WASHINGTON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - America's aging air traffic control system — reliant on outdated telecom systems, decades-old Compaq computers and replacement parts bought on eBay — keeps failing.

A severed backup fiber line in New Jersey knocked out Northeast air traffic control for hours, delaying or canceling thousands of flights and sparking a blame game.

The outage occurred just as President Donald Trump and numerous foreign leaders were flying into New York City for the U.N. General Assembly. Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney missed an event Monday on the sidelines of the General Assembly because of the flight disruptions, but his office said he had arrived in New York by Monday night.

A technical issue has disrupted flights in and out of Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England, the second in two weeks.

Britain’s failing air traffic control service has come under fire for devoting resources to chasing money-making opportunities in the Middle East.

The FAA launched SMART Monday in the D.C. area, designed to help prevent flight delays and cancellations.

A Government Accountability Office findings show FAA communications with aircraft are “incredibly insecure,” lacking comprehensive risk assessments, updated security documentation, and real-time detection for spectrum threats,