Emergency vehicles at the New York City area\u2019s three major airports will be outfitted with new tracking devices after the NTSB highlighted a missing transponder aboard a fire truck as a contributor to last month\u2019s deadly LaGuardia Airport plane crash.<\/p>\n
James Allen, a spokesman for Port Authority, announced Tuesday that the agency will be \u201cexpanding\u201d the use of transponder technology across LaGuardia, JFK and Newark airports in line with the Federal Aviation Administration\u2019s recommendation.<\/p>\n
The National Transportation Safety Board\u2019s preliminary report released last week on the harrowing March 22 crash singled out the fire truck\u2019s lack of a transponder but did not say if including the device could\u2019ve prevented the collision. <\/p>\n
The collision at LaGuardia Airport left two pilots dead and 41 others injured. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n
The Port Authority fire truck did not have a transponder. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n
Without the device, LaGuardia\u2019s automatic warning system could not \u201ccorrelate the track\u201d of the descending Air Canada Express with the fire truck\u2019s path, the report said.<\/p>\n
The plane wound up barreling into the fire truck while it was crossing the runway in a fiery collision that killed the two pilots in the cockpit<\/a> and injured 39 others on board<\/a>. The two firefighters inside the fire truck were also injured, but ultimately survived and have been placed on leave.<\/p>\n Allen said that Port Authority is making \u201ctargeted investments in safety technology,\u201d including installing the transponders that cost $10,000 each.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will continue to work closely with the NTSB as its investigation proceeds and remain focused on working with the FAA to strengthen safety across our airfield operations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The fire truck was cleared to cross a runway that the Air Canada Express jet was landing on. obtained by NY Post<\/p>\n Two firefighters in the fire truck were injured but survived. Obtained by the NY Post<\/p>\n The FAA has encouraged airports to install transponders in their emergency and rescue vehicles without setting a firm requirement for the last 15 years. <\/p>\n It upped the ante by including the recommendation in its May 2025 guidelines, then rolled out a pilot program at Newark Liberty Airport in December 2025.<\/p>\n The Port Authority fire truck was responding to a separate emergency at LaGuardia around midnight when it was given the go-ahead to cross Runway 4 \u2014 right as the Air Canada Express flight was cleared for landing.<\/p>\n One of the two air-traffic controllers<\/a> manning the tower frantically ordered the truck to \u201cstop\u201d<\/a> in the seconds leading up to the collision, according to audio released after the crash.<\/p>\n