NTSB: Crew Member in ARFF Rig Heard 'Stop' Warning Before Deadly LaGuardia Crash

Evan Simko-Bednarski

New York Daily News

(TNS)

One of the two crew members aboard the truck involved in last month’s deadly crash at LaGuardia airport told investigators he heard a command to “stop stop stop” coming from air traffic control — but realized too late that the order was intended for his truck.

The detail is included in the National Transportation Safety Board’s initial report on the crash that killed the two pilots of an Air Canada flight in the late-night hours of Sunday, March 22.

The truck was at the head of a column of seven rescue vehicles, all of which had received clearance from the tower to cross Runway 4 and head toward a United Airlines flight that was evacuating due to a strange odor onboard.

But just seconds after allowing the convoy to proceed, the tower tried to stop them from crossing the runway.

“Stop, stop, stop, stop,” an air traffic controller could be heard yelling on a recording.

“Truck 1, stop, stop, stop.

“Stop, Truck 1, stop.”

Thursday’s NTSB report indicates that the driver of another rescue truck in the convoy saw the Air Canada jet, a Mitsubishi CRJ-900, bearing down on Runway 4, and also got on the radio to the lead truck, telling the driver to “stop stop stop.”

But the truck continued.

Investigators reported Thursday that the truck was traveling at roughly 30 mph, two seconds after being told to stop, as it entered the runway. The driver of the truck turned toward the left just moments before the Air Canada jet slammed into it at 104 mph.

The collision sheared the cockpit from the aircraft, killing pilots Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther. One other crew member was seriously injured, as were three passengers. Thirty-three additional passengers were treated for minor injuries.

The fire truck was crumpled and knocked over on its side, its onboard water and fire-fighting foam tanks damaged and leaking. The two Port Authority police officers who crewed the truck — the driver and the turret operator — were seriously injured.

The driver, who had three years of experience on the rescue crew, was nearly halfway through a 12-hour shift at the time of the crash. The turret operator — who told investigators he heard the “stop” order — had a dozen years of experience, and was more than four hours into his 12-hour shift.

According to the NTSB’s preliminary report, there were two air traffic controllers on-duty at the airport at the time of the crash, “consistent with the mid-shift basic watch schedule.” Both controllers were up to date on their qualifications. One had 18 years of experience, the other had 19 year of experience, and both were less than an hour into their shifts.

The report also reiterated the NTSB’s concern over the lack of transponders on LaGuardia’s rescue truck fleet, which meant the airport’s automated surface detection system, known as “ASDE-X,” could not pick up all seven trucks in the rescue convoy and alert controllers to the possibility of a crash.

James Allen, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the region’s airports, said the agency was in the process of reviewing the NTSB report.

“We appreciate the NTSB’s work and the speed with which they’ve released this preliminary report,” Allen said in a statement.

“We’re conducting a comprehensive review of the initial findings and investigative materials,” he added. “Our focus is straightforward: ensure our safety procedures and protocols are as strong as they can be and take action to strengthen them as needed.”

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