The deadly collision on a LaGuardia Airport runway Sunday night is now centered on the actions of air traffic control and how safety safeguards performed as an Air Canada regional flight approached. The National Transportation Safety Board said the fire truck involved had been cleared to cross the runway moments before controllers repeatedly told the driver to stop, as the aircraft was landing in conditions the report described as misty and somewhat foggy.
Investigators said the Air Canada regional flight arrived from Montreal at about 11:37 p.m. and struck an airport fire truck that was crossing the runway to check on an unusual odor reported on another plane. The AP report said the airport was busier than a typical Sunday night after flight delays, with nearly 70 takeoffs and landings after 10 p.m., more than double the 31 scheduled, based on data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.
The NTSB timeline described by investigator Doug Brazy points to a last-minute change in instructions to the vehicle. About 20 seconds before the collision, air traffic control cleared the truck to cross, but about 11 seconds later a controller repeatedly told the truck to stop, Brazy said on Tuesday, and it was not yet clear whether the truck’s driver heard the call. The report also said audio from the airport control tower captured an unnamed controller saying, “I messed up.”
Officials said the impact crushed the cockpit, sheared the nose off the plane, and rolled the fire truck onto its side. Passengers helped one another by opening emergency exit doors, sliding off the plane’s wings, and assisting others to safety, according to the AP account.
The Associated Press reported that the pilot and co-pilot were the only confirmed fatalities among roughly six dozen people aboard the flight, operated by Jazz Aviation on behalf of Air Canada. Officials have not released the victims’ names, but a family member identified one of the dead as Antoine Forest. The AP said about 40 people were taken to hospitals for treatment, including two emergency responders riding in the fire truck, and that most injured people were quickly released while some remained hospitalized, including a flight attendant who was thrown from the plane and found, buckled into her seat, yards (meters) away, according to her daughter.
On the question of what caused the crash, federal investigators said they do not yet know. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said investigators planned to analyze the plane’s cockpit and flight data recorders, interview air traffic controllers and firefighters, and look into issues that could range from control tower staffing to electronics meant to prevent runway collisions.
Homendy also addressed the scope of the initial findings, telling reporters at a news conference that investigators rarely investigate a major accident where there was “one failure” rather than a cascade of problems. The report said the Federal Aviation Administration had encouraged airports with runway alert systems like LaGuardia’s to install transmitters in airport vehicles last year, and that Homendy said some airports have such devices while LaGuardia’s system instead tracked the truck with radar and “didn’t produce an alert.”
The AP report said other safeguards appeared to be working as part of the system architecture, including lights in the runway pavement that turn red when an aircraft is approaching so that vehicles can steer clear. Homendy also said the physical layout of the control tower provided a view of the runway, and that two controllers were working the tower, covering what are often four different jobs, though investigators would probe whether that double duty made sense at a busy airport such as LaGuardia.
Homendy said the NTSB has raised general concerns in the past about fatigue on overnight shifts in control towers, but she told reporters there was no indication so far that fatigue was a factor in Sunday’s collision. Canada also sent investigators to look into the crash.
The crash and the temporary airport closure added strain to travel for passengers already dealing with delays. The AP reported that LaGuardia shut down after the collision, with one runway reopening Monday afternoon and remaining the state of operations on Tuesday, when about a quarter of the airport’s scheduled flights were canceled and major delays continued. The report said the closure and disruption came amid broader challenges for U.S. airports tied to long security lines during a standoff over Department of Homeland Security funding, and that the crash did not directly affect controllers because they work for the FAA under the Department of Transportation, while controller shortages in recent years have led to frequent overtime.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the LaGuardia tower as generally “well-staffed,” according to the AP report. ___ Associated Press writer Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed.