LaGuardia runway crash: Questions remain about role of air traffic controllers in fatal collision

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.

The investigation begins

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 news 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 4.

"There is a tremendous amount of debris," Homendy said of the crash site, adding 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 shut down all flights at one of the nation's busiest airports for hours before they resumed after 2 p.m., is the first known aviation death at LaGuardia in 34 years.

Lives on the line

The collision occurred around 11:40 p.m. Sunday when Air Canada Express Flight 8646, which departed from Montreal with 72 passengers and four crew members on board, landed on Runway 4, federal and state officials said at a news conference Monday at LaGuardia.

The CRJ-900 jet, operated by Jazz Aviation LP, smashed into a vehicle occupied by Port Authority Police Sgt. Michael Orsillo, of Rockville Centre, and Officer Adrian Baez, of Queens, who had been deployed to assist a United Airlines plane, officials said. 

Both men suffered  injuries, officials said. One was expected to be released from the hospital Monday while the other will remain overnight for observation, said Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

"It's incredibly sad. It’s troubling," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at the news conference. "And I just want to let America know that we are working our hearts off to make sure that when people travel, whether by air or car or air, that they travel safely."

Robert Zafonte, president of the Port Authority Sergeants Benevolent Association, said his members "bravely put themselves in danger every time they answer the call of duty to help save lives. We ask that the public refrain from any rush to judgment while this investigation takes its course."

One of the pilots was identified by family members who spoke to a Canadian media outlet as Antoine Forest, 30, of Quebec. The other has not been identified.

"These were two young men at the start of their career, so it's an absolute tragedy," said Bryan Bedford, administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.

President Donald Trump called the crash "terrible" and said "they made a mistake," without elaborating, before departing for an event in Memphis, Tennessee.

Marco Alcantara, 25, of Chicago, said he was aboard the United Airways flight with the suspicious odor that was later evacuated.

"It's surreal," he told Newsday while lying on the floor of Terminal B. " ... It’s a little scary."

Heroic passengers

Forty-one passengers and crew members were sent to Elmhurst Hospital; at least 32 have since been released, Garcia said.

Among the injured was flight attendant Solange Tremblay, who was ejected from the aircraft and found 320 feet from the plane still strapped to her seat, her daughter, Sarah Lépine told Quebec’s TVA News. 

Lépine  said her mother suffered a broken leg but called it a "complete miracle"  she survived.

"She had a guardian angel watching over her," Lépine told the Canadian news outlet. "It could have been much worse."

Witnesses said the plane's escape slides did not deploy, so passengers, including Rebecca Liquori, of Baldwin, had to scramble over the wings to safety, she told News 12 Long Island, where she previously worked.

In an interview with Newsday, Matthew Liquori, Rebecca's husband, said he's heard from strangers about his wife's heroism and quick thinking.

"I am really proud of her," he said of his wife, who was at a hospital being evaluated for a concussion. "Some people were saying that she saved their lives because she was the one that got the emergency door open."

Staffing a concern

Two aviation experts told Newsday the controller may have been handling tasks normally meant for two people.

"Normally, in an operation like this, one controller is working the ground traffic, the vehicles, the taxiing aircraft, [while] another controller is working the arriving and departing aircraft," said Michael McCormick, a former head of the FAA radar facility in Ronkonkoma. "And when you listen to the voice tape, it sounds a lot like the same controller is doing both. That definitely contributes to a workload issue that could be a factor in this."

Harvey Scolnick, who spent about 40 years as an air traffic controller and another decade training controllers, added "it sounds to me like it might have been the same controller" handling both tasks. 

The FAA keeps a database of "runway incursions," which occur on airport landing strips. It classifies incidents from A (the most serious — an accident or near-accident) to E (the least serious), records show. Last year, there were four C-level incursions at LaGuardia and one each at Kennedy and Newark Liberty airports, figures show.

Duffy said 33 of the 37 certified controller positions are filled and operate out of LaGuardia while seven more are in training. 

The NTSB, he said, will determine how many controllers were working Sunday night and he dismissed "rumors" it was just one. 

"It is a well-staffed airport," Duffy said, repeating calls for Congress to increase funding for air traffic control hires.

Air traffic controllers are not among those impacted by the partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown that has caused extensive delays at airport security checkpoints in recent days.