After a crash on the runway at LaGuardia Airport killed two pilots and injured dozens, the new head of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says any decision to modify the airport will be based on federal investigators’ findings. 

Kathyrn Garcia, recently named executive director of the agency that runs the New York City area’s major airports, said Sunday no procedural changes have been made at LGA in the week since the late-night crash on March 22. 

“At this point we’re going to wait for the [National Transportation Safety Board] to give us some guidance on what occurred and if there’s anything that needs to be changed,” Garcia said during an interview on CBS News New York’s “The Point with Marcia Kramer.” 

The pilot and co-pilot of an Air Canada plane were killed when the aircraft collided with a fire-rescue truck just after landing. Air traffic control recordings revealed the truck was cleared to cross the runway before the controller said “stop, stop, stop.”

FAA closes LaGuardia Airport after deadly runway collision kills 2

Kathryn Garcia at a news conference after the FAA closed LaGuardia Airport.

Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images

A CBS News report found pilots at LaGuardia have complained about close calls and air traffic control confusion for years. 

While LaGuardia’s runway is shorter than those at nearby JFK Airport and Newark Liberty Airport, Garcia would not theorize if infrastructure – like the runway, ground lights and emergency vehicle routes – factored into the crash and need adjustments. 

“As I said, I can’t speculate on what they’re gonna find. Obviously the [Federal Aviation Administration] has strong regulatory authority over our airports, including everything from the size of a runway, to the lights, to the signs,” said Garcia, NYC’s former sanitation commissioner who nearly won the Democratic nomination for mayor in 2021. 

Air Canada Express Plane Collides With Fire Truck At LaGuardia Airport

An Air Canada Express plane collided with a fire truck on the runway at LaGuardia Airport.

Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Garcia said the focus right now is on the NTSB investigation. 

“If anything comes up before [it concludes], our safety people are embedded with them right now to assist in the investigation. We’ll certainly take that under advisement,” she said. 

The runway was shut down for more than three days before it reopened after the collision. 

In: