Investigation of fatal LaGuardia collision begins

Investigators Monday were analyzing flight data recorders from a regional Air Canada plane that crashed into a Port Authority fire truck on a LaGuardia Airport runway, killing the two pilots and injuring dozens — including a flight attendant ejected while strapped to her seat — as questions remained about the role of air traffic controllers in the collision.

Nearly a full day after the crash, the wreckage of the Bombardier jet, with cables and debris dangling from its mangled cockpit, remained on the runway; its crumpled nose sheared off and pointing toward the sky.

Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the federal probe into the crash, said she expects information from the flight recorders to be shared Tuesday after they were plucked from the plane through a hole drilled into the top of the craft.

"We have a lot of data," she said in an airport new conference, including the staffing of the air traffic control tower on duty at the time of the collision. The team, she said, will examine what's left of the plane, which touched down in mist and fog coming from Montreal, and the fire truck, scattered over Runway Four.

"There is a tremendous amount of debris," Homendy said of the crash site, adding that it will be days before the runway can reopen.

Among the focus points of the investigation, experts said, will be the role of the air traffic controller who directed the truck onto the tarmac.

Only moments before the ferocious impact, which demolished the front of the plane, an air traffic controller can be heard on airport communications, recorded on ATC.com, frantically pleading with the truck to stop before the audio abruptly cuts out. When the audio returns minutes later, the controller appears to acknowledge the error, blaming himself for the collision.

"We were dealing with an emergency earlier," the controller said. "I messed up."

The crash sent more than 40 people to the hospital, according to officials and family members.

The vehicle, occupied by a Port Authority sergeant and officer — both of whom survived the collision — was on the tarmac just before midnight responding to another plane reporting an odor issue onboard.

The crash, which temporarily shut down all flights at one of the nation's busiest airports before resuming after 2 p.m., is the first known aviation death at LaGuardia in 34 years.