The FAA is reportedly probing whether a LaGuardia Airport air-traffic controller involved in Sunday’s fatal plane crash could have been distracted by an issue with another jet.
The potential distraction – first reported by The New York Times – was a United Airlines flight from which a mysterious odor had sickened crew members.
An air-traffic controller had cleared a Port Authority fire truck responding to the issue to cross a runway as an Air Canada jet was landing, the report states.
The LaGuardia tower crew’s too-late realization of an impending collision between Air Canada flight 8646 and the truck was captured in heartstopping audio posted on the site LiveATC.net.
“Stop, stop, stop, stop,” a controller demanded, according to the audio. “Truck 1, stop, stop, stop. Stop, Truck 1. Stop.”
A controller can be heard later in the audio admitting, “I messed up.”
Aviation experts quickly questioned whether the LaGuardia air-traffic control tower was properly staffed – a suggestion dismissed by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
The tower had two controllers working two positions at the same time – a typical arrangement at night given lighter air traffic, The Times reported.
Another two controllers were in the building, but not in the tower’s control room when the crash unfolded, according to the report.
The horrific wreck – LaGuardia’s first fatal crash in more than 30 years – killed the Air Canada jet’s two pilots and left 41 people injured, including the two officers on the fire truck.
A flight attendant was also thrown more than 300 feet from the plane during the collision, but miraculously survived – likely thanks to the jump seat she was strapped into, experts said.
The crash prompted an hours-long closure at LaGuardia, one of the world’s busiest airport, on Monday.
Flight delays lingered into Tuesday as the airport’s Runway 4, where the jet T-boned the fire truck, remained closed so crews could clear debris.
Officials have remained tight-lipped about the probe into the crash’s cause, but National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy said Tuesday it’s likely “multiple failures” led to the fatal incident.
Homendy also stressed it’s “too early” to pin the blame solely on the controller.