Investigator Warns Against ‘Pointing Fingers’ After Air Canada Collision That Killed Two Pilots
US officials on Tuesday downplayed speculation that distracted air traffic controllers may have played a role in a deadly collision between an Air Canada jet and a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport.
The runway crash, which occurred late Sunday, killed two pilots, crushing the cockpit of the Bombardier aircraft and causing significant damage to the emergency vehicle.
Media reports suggested investigators were looking into whether air traffic controllers were distracted by an odor issue on a United Airlines flight, the emergency to which the fire truck had been responding.
However, Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, urged caution, saying, “I would caution pointing fingers at controllers and saying distraction was involved.”
“We rarely, if ever, investigate a major accident where a single failure is to blame,” she said.
“Our aviation system is incredibly safe because it has multiple layers of defence designed to prevent accidents. So when something goes wrong, it usually means that many things have gone wrong,” she added.
Jennifer Homendy said two air traffic controllers were on duty in the tower at LaGuardia Airport at the time of the incident.
Alongside managing airspace, the controllers were also handling departure clearances and ground traffic control—responsibilities that are typically assigned to separate staff.
Homendy noted that this level of staffing is “common practice across the national airspace” for a midnight shift, though she added that her agency has previously raised concerns about fatigue.
“We have no indication that it played a role in this case, but it is an issue we have examined in previous investigations,” she said.
Jennifer Homendy said the runway safety system, ASDE-X—designed to monitor aircraft and ground vehicles—did not issue an alert before the crash because the fire truck involved was not equipped with a transponder.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s lead investigator, Doug Brazy, said the team is reviewing more than 25 hours of cockpit voice recordings and 80 hours of flight data.
He noted that the final three minutes captured in the cockpit recording included the co-pilot handing control over to the captain just six seconds before the recording ended, though the reason for the transfer remains unclear.
According to a passenger list, 76 people were on board the flight, including four crew members, Air Canada said. Of those, 39 were taken to hospital, with six still hospitalised as of Tuesday afternoon. The two men in the fire truck were also hospitalised but were expected to recover, officials said.
The crash marks the first fatal accident at LaGuardia Airport since 1992.
Located in Queens, LaGuardia is the third-busiest airport serving New York, handling 32.8 million passengers in 2025, according to port authority figures.
Deadly aviation accidents in the US in recent years include a January 2025 collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter near Washington that killed 67 people.
About the Author
