{"id":557943,"date":"2026-03-24T17:45:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T17:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/557943\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T17:45:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T17:45:09","slug":"laguardia-pilots-raised-safety-alarms-months-before-deadly-runway-crash-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/557943\/","title":{"rendered":"LaGuardia pilots raised safety alarms months before deadly runway crash | New York"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pilot safety concerns about New York<\/a>\u2019s LaGuardia airport were filed to aviation officials months before Sunday\u2019s collision<\/a> between an airplane and a firetruck left two pilots dead and 41 other people hospitalized.<\/p>\n

According to the aviation safety reporting system<\/a> administered by the US space agency Nasa, a pilot using the airport in the summer wrote, \u201cPlease do something,\u201d after air traffic controllers failed to provide appropriate guidance about multiple nearby aircraft.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pace of operations is building in LGA,\u201d they wrote, referring to the New York<\/a> City airport, one of the busiest in the US. \u201cThe controllers are pushing the line.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a reference to the January 2025 mid-air collision over the Potomac River in Washington DC that killed more than 60 people, they said: \u201cOn thunderstorm days, LGA is starting to feel like [Ronald Reagan National airport] did before the accident there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The warning<\/a>, first reported by CNN<\/a>, showed that the pilot of the aircraft was concerned that LaGuardia\u2019s control tower initiated a takeoff clearance for an aircraft when their plane was \u201conly 300 feet high on final\u201d approach on a different runway \u2013 and the departing plane had hesitated initiating its takeoff run.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he or she thought twice before starting their takeoff roll,\u201d the pilot of the aircraft said. The pilot mentioned how thick, smoky haze from wildfires in Canada<\/a> at the time as well as a possible helicopter in the area had convinced him it was \u201csafer to continue the approach and land [about] 10 seconds after the departing aircraft crossed our path\u201d.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, the pilot added, he would have been left \u201csuddenly going around and trusting that the helicopter was not near the departure end of 22\u201d, with the number referring to a runway.<\/p>\n

The pilot concluded: \u201cthe [air traffic control] guidance \u2026 does not seem to give guidance on exactly how close aircraft in this situation can get.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on today\u2019s and close calls I have seen over the years for [runways at the Philadelphia and Newark international airports], it seems to be a [judgment] call by the local controller.\u201d<\/p>\n

They also said that a runway lighting system had been turned off. In another report since January 2025, a pilot said their aircraft had been cleared to cross a runway \u2013 but crossing \u201cwe noticed an aircraft we thought was landing at [runway] 31C seemingly headed for us\u201d.<\/p>\n

Air traffic control \u201cshould have sent the aircraft around\u201d, they said.<\/p>\n

Nasa\u2019s Aviation Safety Reporting System<\/a> has received dozens of anonymous pilot complaints about safety concerns at the smallest of New York\u2019s three local airports.<\/p>\n

The reports come as investigators are looking into the collision of a landing Air Canada Express flight 646 from Montreal that collided with an airport fire truck that had been cleared to cross the runway, leading to the deaths of pilots MacKenzie Gunther and Antoine Forest as well as injuries to dozens more.<\/p>\n

After the air traffic controller cleared the fire truck, which was responding to a plane that had reported difficulties, the controller then tried to stop it from crossing. He could later be heard saying on a recording that he had been \u201cdealing with an emergency earlier\u201d and that he \u201cmessed up\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"ControlControl tower audio captures moments before LaGuardia plane crash \u2013 audio<\/p>\n

The crash<\/a> has raised fears that operations at US airports are under extreme stress. Airports have been dealing with a shortage of air traffic controllers, exacerbated by brutal federal government personnel cuts by Donald Trump\u2019s administration at the start of his second presidency.<\/p>\n

Airports have also grappled with ageing equipment and a shortage of security screeners owing to a partial government shutdown since mid-February, which has caused long security lines and frustration among travelers. More than 450 TSA officers have quit during the partial government shutdown, Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not need another aviation tragedy to see this coming,\u201d said to aviation expert Brian Fielkow in a comment to the Guardian. An investigation into the collision will take take time, he warned, but \u201clet\u2019s stop pretending we don\u2019t understand the conditions in which this is happening.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are watching a system under strain. TSA professionals are showing up to work without pay. This creates distraction, instability and unnecessary risk. We are asking people responsible for securing our transportation system to operate under financial and emotional strain and expecting flawless performance. We are managing aviation safety like a political pawn instead of a system that cannot fail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Federal investigators said late on Monday it was too soon to answer many questions about Sunday\u2019s deadly accident but promised more information would be released Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Homendy, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chair whose agency is investigating Sunday\u2019s crash, said investigators would analyze the involved airplane\u2019s cockpit and flight data recorders, which were recovered from the wreck undamaged.<\/p>\n

She said the runway where the crash happened was likely to be closed for days as investigators sift through a \u201ctremendous amount of debris\u201d.<\/p>\n

Homendy also said that an NTSB investigator sent to LaGuardia on Monday was delayed for three hours by security lines in Houston.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur air traffic control specialist, who was in line \u2026 for three hours, until we called \u2026 to beg, to see if we can get her through, so we can get her here.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s been a really big challenge to get the entire team here, and they\u2019re still arriving as we speak,\u201d Homandy added.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has sent<\/a> Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to many US airports with the aim of helping with long pre-security lines.<\/p>\n

Adam Stahl, the acting TSA deputy administrator, told Fox News<\/a> that ICE agents would be \u201cconducting non-specialized security support \u2013 manning the exit lanes, crowd management, line control \u2026 to help alleviate the challenges that our officers are facing\u201d.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents have called in sick or quit their jobs rather than be forced to work without pay amid the shutdown. The shutdown stems from the US Senate not funding the TSA\u2019s parent agency over a disagreement over immigration enforcement reforms.<\/p>\n

Sean Duffy, the US transportation secretary, on Monday declined to say how many controllers were on duty at LaGuardia when Sunday\u2019s crash happened, deferring instead to the ongoing NTSB investigation.<\/p>\n

But he denied rumors that the tower had only one controller on duty. He said LaGuardia was \u201cvery well staffed\u201d, with 33 certified controllers and more in training. He said the goal was to have 37 on staff.<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s incident was not the only collision at LaGuardia in recent months. In October, two Delta jets collided on a taxiway, sending one person to a hospital.<\/p>\n

In July, a co-pilot reported a similar near-collision after controllers said a plane was cleared to cross the runway even though another aircraft was landing at the same time.<\/p>\n

\u201cGround control issued a stop command just in time,\u201d the report entry said, according to CNN.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pilot safety concerns about New York\u2019s LaGuardia airport were filed to aviation officials months before Sunday\u2019s collision between…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557944,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-557943","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}