Alarming new details about the deadly LaGuardia Airport plane crash surfaced Tuesday revealing confusion in air tower also extended to the ground.
The fire truck involved in the crash was not equipped with a key device to track its movements around the runway, and it’s unclear if the driver could even hear the air tower’s desperate pleas to stop before the tragedy, NTSB officials said.
National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said the agency still doesn’t even know which air-traffic controller was in charge of ground activity at the New York City airport at the time.
“It is not clear who was conducting the duties of the ground controller,” Homendy told reporters two days after the Air Canada jet plowed into the Port Authority Police Aircraft Rescue Fire Truck late Sunday, killing both of the plane’s pilots and injuring dozens of people.
“We have conflicting information. We have some information it was the controller-in-charge. We have some information it was the local controller.’’
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She also noted that the fire truck did not have a transponder — a crucial piece of equipment that would give air-traffic controllers a clear picture where it was on LaGuardia’s runways.
“Should they have transponders? Yeah, they should,’’ she said of the vehicles.
“Air-traffic controllers should know what’s in, you know, before them. Whether it’s on airport surface or in the airspace. They should have that information to ensure safety.
“We have no indication that there were transponders on any of the trucks. But there are transponders on other trucks at other airports across the nation.
“But in this case, they did not have transponders.”
She added that the agency also isn’t sure if the two cops on the fire truck heard the air tower’s desperate instructions to stop before driving onto the runway.
She said investigators still need to interview the pair, who survived.
One was released from the hospital Monday, while the other still hospitalized.