NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- Not all the air-traffic controllers on duty were monitoring the runways from the tower at LaGuardia Airport when a commercial jet collided with a fire truck, according to people familiar with the matter.
There were four controllers on duty the night of the accident, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information hasn’t been released. But only two were in the cab — the panoramic, glass-enclosed room atop the tower where air traffic controllers work. The others were elsewhere in the facility.
It’s not uncommon for controllers to take breaks, and traffic would have been lighter given the late time of day, two of the people said. The collision occurred Sunday at about 11:40 p.m. local time, killing both pilots.
US National Transportation Safety Board investigators are examining air-traffic control staffing and procedures as part of their probe into why an Air Canada Express jet carrying 76 people slammed into a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey fire truck that was crossing the runway.
An NTSB spokesperson couldn’t confirm the details about staffing, saying more preliminary information would be released Tuesday. LaGuardia handles more than 30 million passengers a year.
Typically, controllers working that night would have been on a shift beginning at about 10 p.m.-10:30 p.m. and ending at about 6 a.m., NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said Monday. The agency was still firming up those details, she said.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday that LaGuardia is a “well-staffed airport” in terms of air-traffic controllers, with about 33 personnel certified to handle flights at the facility against a target of 37.
The fire truck was responding to a different emergency on a United Airlines Holdings Inc. flight after pilots reported an unusual odor coming from the cabin. The truck, manned by two first responders, requested clearance to cross runway 4, where the Air Canada jet was due to land, and was given the go-ahead by air traffic control.
Though shortly after, a panicked controller can be heard frantically telling the truck driver to stop. Later, what sounds like the same controller said, “I messed up,” when discussing the matter with another pilot.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com.
