Key takeaways from a report into the deadly plane crash at LaGuardia Airport
Federal investigators on Thursday detailed a series of problems and failures that led to a fatal collision between a regional jet and a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport last month.
According to a preliminary report According to information from the National Transportation Safety Board, the truck ran over the airport’s version of the stop light and the vehicle was not equipped with a transmitter, which interfered with the collision warning system. There was extra heavy air traffic at the time and there was also an emergency involving another aircraft.
Air Canada Express Flight 8646, a regional jet from Montreal with 76 people on board, crashed into a fire truck seconds after landing on March 22. Pilots Antoine ForestWhile 30-year-old Mackenzie Gunther and 24-year-old Mackenzie Gunther lost their lives, 39 people, including the two people in the fire truck, were taken to hospitals with injuries.
This was the first fatal crash at LaGuardia in 34 years. Here are some key takeaways from the NTSB’s report.
Busy air traffic controllers
Two air traffic controllers were on duty on the night of the accident, in accordance with the normal schedule.
But LaGuardia was busier than ever as flight delays increased the number of arrivals and departures after 10 p.m. to more than double what was planned, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Until the accident, planes were landing every few minutes. At the same time, controllers were forced to change duties due to an emergency caused by a strong odor on a departing United Airlines jet. The fire truck involved in the collision was leading a convoy of vehicles responding to the emergency.
The more senior controller coordinated the Joint emergency response, while the other controller took over directing vehicles on the ground while authorizing takeoffs and landings.
“These controllers were very busy, very busy,” said aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti.
There is no transmitter in the fire truck
LaGuardia is one of 35 major U.S. airports with an advanced surface surveillance system that combines radar data with information from transponders inside planes and ground vehicles to help prevent collisions. Controllers have a screen in the tower that is supposed to show the position of each aircraft and vehicle.
The fire truck involved in the accident and others in the convoy were not equipped with transponders that would allow the system, known as ASDE-X, to precisely track their movements.
The system’s radar had difficulty distinguishing the fire truck and other vehicles, and radar targets intermittently merged on the screen. As a result, no alarm went off to alert controllers.
The red lights were on
According to air traffic control broadcasts, the Air Canada flight was cleared to land at 11:35 p.m. About two minutes later, 25 seconds before the accident, the fire crew wanted to cross the same runway.
The flight was about 100 feet above the ground when an air traffic controller allowed the fire truck to pass. At the time, the red light system that served as a warning for crossing traffic on the track was still on.
The lights continued to come on until the truck reached the edge of the track (about three seconds before impact). By design, the lights turned off two or three seconds before the plane reached the runway intersection, the report said.
According to former airline pilot John Cox, CEO of Safety Operating Systems, the truck should never have entered the runway with the warning lights on, even though the controller had given clearance.
“It’s an automated system, so even though the controller says you’re cleared, the lights mean there’s an aircraft either on the runway or about to take off,” Cox said.
Guzzetti said it might have been difficult to see the runway lights before the crash because it was dark and the pavements were wet.
‘Stop, stop, stop’
Nine seconds before the crash, the controller realized that the plane and truck were poised to collide and told the fire crew: “Stop, stop, stop, stop. Truck 1. Stop, stop, stop, stop.”
The fire truck’s turret operator told investigators he remembered hearing the words “stop, stop, stop” but did not know who those words were directed to until he later heard “Truck 1.”
He then noticed that the truck had already entered the track. He said he could see the plane’s lights on the runway as they turned left.
Cox said it was understandable that the driver did not realize the controller’s initial stop call was for the truck because he was giving directions to multiple different vehicles in rapid succession.
“We now know who he’s talking to, but if you’re listening for the first three stop, stop, stop, there’s uncertainty about who he’s talking to,” Cox said.
But Cox said even if the driver had applied the brakes at the initial call to stop, he wasn’t sure the truck would have been able to stop in time because the NTSB said the truck reached speeds of 30 mph before entering the track.
Given the truck’s speed and weight, Cox said the vehicle “won’t stop on a dime.”
