Lessons learned from near disaster at San Diego Int’l Airport should have prevented LaGuardia crash, expert says

A veteran pilot with more than 40 years of experience says Sunday’s deadly crash at LaGuardia Airport was entirely avoidable — and believes the fault lies squarely in the control tower.

Robert Katz, a longtime commercial pilot and flight instructor, says the Air Canada flight involved in the crash had been cleared to land on Runway 4 when the air traffic controller began communicating with multiple other planes. Katz believes the distraction set the stage for disaster.

“This was, in my opinion, all controller error… rests squarely with the controller. No one else,” Katz said.

According to Katz, after clearing the Air Canada jet to land, the controller went on to speak with five additional aircraft before authorizing a fire truck to cross the same runway.

“Truck one and company, LaGuardia tower requesting to cross 4 at Delta. Truck one and company cross 4 at Delta,” the controller can be heard saying in tower audio.

Katz argues that the controller had lost track of where the arriving aircraft actually was when that clearance was given. Ten seconds later, the situation turned catastrophic.

“Stop truck one… stop… mmm…” the controller urgently transmitted as the collision unfolded.

Katz says the moment he heard the audio, he was reminded of a near‑disaster at San Diego International Airport in 2023, when a business jet cleared to land came close to striking a Southwest plane preparing for takeoff. In that case, Katz says, the controller’s attention was diverted — not by ground vehicles, but by yet another aircraft dealing with a mechanical problem away from the runway.

“Completely zoned out the arriving business jet which almost struck the Southwest plane on the end of the runway. So it’s nearly an identical circumstance to what happened in LaGuardia last night,” Katz said.

He believes the public hears only a fraction of the incidents caused by what he describes as controller distraction and poor prioritization. In his view, the FAA is not doing enough to ensure controllers keep their focus on aircraft already in the air — the ones most vulnerable and with the least margin for error.

Katz also points to airport design as a contributing factor in some locations. He argues that San Diego International, in particular, poses unnecessary risks because of its layout.

“We see one runway used for landing and taking off and lots of intersections where airplanes cross… or vehicles can cross,” he said.