NTSB's Runway Crash Findings Focus on Communication Issues

LaGuardia Airport's decision not to equip fire trucks with tracking gear is emerging as a key factor in a deadly runway collision, federal investigators said. A preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report released Thursday points to a chain of communication breakdowns before an Air Canada regional jet struck an airport fire truck on Runway 4 last month, killing both pilots and injuring 41 others. The NTSB found that the air traffic controller handling both air and ground operations cleared the lead fire truck in a seven-vehicle convoy to cross the runway when the plane was about 130 feet from the ground, the New York Times reports.

About 11 seconds later, the controller tried to reverse course, urgently radioing "Stop, Truck 1, stop!"—a command firefighters did not realize applied to them. The report zeroes in on the absence of vehicle transponders, which meant the airport's surface monitoring system could not reliably track the trucks or flag the impending conflict. The FAA had recommended such equipment for emergency vehicles in 2025; the Port Authority says it has not yet made changes. Runway lights that warn ground vehicles of planes taking off and landing were working that night, per WPVI. The report doesn't say why the firetruck did not stop in response to the lights. The investigation is expected to take about a year.