NEW YORK (AP) — A firefighter whose truck collided with an Air Canada Express jet on the runway at New York’s LaGuardia Airport last month, killing two pilots, heard an air traffic controller warning “stop, stop, stop” but didn’t know for whom it was intended, federal investigators said Thursday.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in its preliminary report on the March 22 accident that just seconds before controllers allowed the fire truck to cross the runway, the truck began to move while its warning light, a stop sign for cross traffic, remained on.
Because the truck lacked a transponder, ground surveillance systems in the control tower could not reliably determine its location, “could not predict potential conflicts with landing aircraft,” and did not issue audio or visual alerts, the report said, noting a series of failures that led to the crash.
“There were many opportunities for this accident to be avoided,” aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said after reviewing the report.
In addition to the control tower and the truck driver, reports indicate the pilot had a chance to recognize the danger and stop, he said. But, he said, they may have gone too far on landing.
After air traffic controllers issued an initial warning to stop, the fire truck’s turret operator heard the controller say, “Truck 1, stop, stop, stop,” and realized he was telling the truck to stop, the report said. At the time, the truck was already on the runway and Air Canada Express flight 8646 was landing and accelerating toward the truck.
John Cox, an aviation safety consultant and CEO of Safety Operating Systems, said the truck driver did not realize the first “stop” call was for him, which was understandable because the controller had just directed an aircraft on the taxiway and did not say “Truck 1” at the beginning of the command.
The turret operator, one of the fire truck’s two crew members, told investigators he saw the lights of an aircraft on the runway as the vehicle turned left, the report said. The aircraft’s speed before impact was 104 mph (167 km/h). The truck is traveling at approximately 30 mph (48 km/h).
The fire truck led a convoy of four fire trucks, a police car and a stairlift in response to the emergency, in which a strong odor caused flight attendants on a United Airlines plane about to take off to feel sick.
Investigators said air traffic controllers allowed the truck to cross the runway just 12 seconds before the plane landed. About eight seconds later, the controller frantically asked the truck to stop.
Pilot killed and 39 injured, including firefighters
The plane, a CRJ900 regional jet that took off from Montreal, was carrying 76 people. Pilots Antoine Forest, 30, and Mackenzie Gunther, 24, were killed. This is the first fatal accident at LaGuardia Airport in 34 years.
In addition, 39 people were sent to hospital, six of whom were seriously injured. Two fire truck crew members were released from the hospital and are recovering at home, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates LaGuardia Airport.
One flight attendant, still strapped to her seat, survived after being thrown to the tarmac.
Another flight attendant reported landing in a seat in the back of the plane and said the flight was normal until he felt an impact, the report said. He didn’t know what was going on and tried to call the pilot but got no response, the report said.
The Port Authority said it is conducting a comprehensive review of the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary findings. “Our focus is simple: ensure our security procedures and protocols are as strong as possible and take action as needed to strengthen them,” the agency said.
According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, LaGuardia Airport was busier than usual on the night of the accident, as flight delays resulted in more than double the number of flights arriving and departing after 10 p.m. Two air traffic controllers were on duty, consistent with normal dispatch, the report said.
Planes were landing every few minutes, with more than a dozen flights arriving between 11 p.m. and the crash less than 40 minutes later. Meanwhile, controllers have had to adjust their duties due to odor issues on United planes.
While a more senior controller coordinated United’s emergency response, another controller took over command of the ground vehicle while continuing to authorize takeoffs and landings.
“These controllers are too busy, too busy,” Guzzetti said.
Airport has technology aimed at preventing crashes
The warning lights, known as runway threshold lights, remained on until the fire trucks reached the edge of the runway, about three seconds before the collision, the report said. They are designed to close two to three seconds before a plane reaches a runway intersection, the report said.
Runway warning lights installed at 20 of the nation’s busiest airports are among backup systems designed to help prevent crashes. Cox said the truck should not enter the runway when the warning lights come on.
“It’s an automated system, so even if the controller says you can come through, the lights mean there’s an aircraft on the runway or about to take off,” Cox said. “So truckers have some questions to answer.”
LaGuardia is one of 35 major U.S. airports with an advanced ground surveillance system that combines radar data with information from transponders inside aircraft and ground vehicles to help prevent runway incursions. Controllers have a display inside the tower that is supposed to show the position of each aircraft and vehicle.
The system, known as ASDE-X, did not sound the alert, in part because the radar could not distinguish between closely spaced trucks and radar targets intermittently merged on the display. Although there were seven vehicles, only two targets were shown before the crash. None are equipped with transponders to help the system accurately track their movements.
According to air traffic control transmissions, Flight 8646 was cleared to land on Runway 4 at 11:35 p.m.
About two minutes later, 25 seconds before the crash, fire crews were asked to cross the same runway, which is between the airport’s fire station and where United Airlines aircraft are parked.
Five seconds later, as Flight 8646 approached the runway, a little more than 100 feet (30 meters) above the ground, air traffic controllers cleared the fire trucks to pass.
Then, just nine seconds before the crash, the controller frantically told the firefighters: “Stop, stop, stop, stop. Truck No. 1. Stop, stop, stop, stop.” A second later, the landing gear hit the ground.
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Fink reported from Omaha, Nebraska. ___
This story has been corrected to show pilot Antoine Forest is 30, not 24, and pilot Mackenzie Gunther is 24, not 30.
