National Transportation Safety Board officials are holding news brief on a collision between an Air Canada plane and a firetruck at LaGuardia Airport.
The collision resulted in the death of two pilots and dozens injured.
The brief follows an earlier news conference by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Federal Aviation Administrator Bryan Bedford at the airport.
Duffy and Bedford were joined by Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Duffy said an Air Canada plane arriving from Montreal on Runway 4 collided with a Port Authority firetruck Sunday at 11:45 p.m. Both pilots were killed and over 40 people were sent to the hospital.
Bedford said they have been in contact with Air Canada and Jazz Aviation. He added that weather conditions at the time of the crash were moderate but that there was mist and fog. He said the Port Authority firetruck was responding to a situation on a United Airlines plane when the collision occurred.
Bedford stressed that the FAA is fully committed to the National Transportation Safety Board in the investigation.
Garcia said the Port Authority works with its partners to ensure the safety of passengers. She said that the collision was the first fatal incident in 34 years at LaGuardia.
She said a fire crewman is expected to be released later on Monday, while another will remain for observation.
Garcia said the airport reopened to passengers at 5:30 a.m. and the first flight departed after 2 p.m.
Hochul conveyed condolences and said that her administration is cognizant of the impact the collision had on LaGuardia and Port Authority.
She vowed that New York state will offer its full cooperation in the investigation.
Mamdani thanked partners in the state and federal government for their help.
He praised crews for their quick response to the scene, as well as passengers who took action to help others who were impacted.
Mamdani said that Air Canada set up a hotline so that people can get in contact with loved ones who may have been involved in the incident.
Mamdani said his team will continue to share new information as they get it.
Duffy added that when incidents like these happen, politics fade away and people come together.
Duffy said that he’s heard a rumor that there was only one controller in the tower, but said that this is not accurate.
He briefly addressed staffing at LaGuardia and said that there are 33 air traffic controllers at the airport and seven in training. He said the target number for LaGuardia is 37.
Duffy said LaGuardia is well staffed, but still faces shortages only by a couple of people.
Duffy also pointed out that here is a lag time between training of air traffic controllers and when they are fully operational.
He also said that air traffic controllers who are about to retire are asked not to do so, and they’re offered a 20% bump in pay so that they will stay.
Duffy said the FAA has great working relationship with NTSB and is fully committed to working together in the investigation.
Michael Canders, an Associate Professor of Aviation at Farmingdale State College, says this could be a case known as a “runway incursion”—a critical safety failure where a vehicle or aircraft is on a runway when it shouldn’t be. He notes that these tragedies often serve as the grim catalyst for industry-wide change.
“Sadly we say that aviation regulations are written in blood,” Canders said. “Meaning that there’s a fatality and then maybe the regulations are changed. So it could be policies, it could be procedures, could be improvement on communications.”
While one runway has reopened as of this afternoon, the FAA and NTSB investigation is expected to be extensive. Investigators will conduct a “deep dive” into the communications and rest cycles of the controllers and drivers involved to determine the official probable cause.
“The bottom line is, we want to prevent it from happening again,” said Canders.
AP Wire Services contributed to this story with additional reporting by Marcy Jones.