AIR traffic control at LaGuardia Airport made a deadly mistake with the fire truck that collided with an Air Canada flight killed two pilots, an expert has claimed.
The Port Authority fire vehicle was responding to a separate emergency incident involving a different plane, United Flight 2384, when disaster struck.
A “weird odor” in the cabin had been reported, and staff requested assistance on Sunday night in New York.
But in a fateful move, the fire truck was granted permission to cross the middle of the runway just as Air Canada Flight 8646 landed, resulting in the deaths of two pilots and leaving dozens in the hospital.
Crossing at the end of the runway would have required a much longer detour around the perimeter or down the length of the taxiways, delaying the response to the United flight.
But pilot and flight instructor, David Evans, told The U.S. Sun it should have still taken the longer route, and protocols at the airport need to be immediately assessed.
He said, “I prefer, personally, as a pilot, if operating vehicles from the airport are going to cross the runway, they do so at the ends of the runway. That’s just me.
“I’m sure you’ll find air traffic control or operators at airports. Some will disagree with me, or think I don’t know what I’m talking about, but just as a pilot, that’s what I would think.
“There’s not just the communication aspect and the scene avoidance aspect.
“I think that also what they’re going to look at is… what are the operating protocols at the airport for this type of situation?
“In an emergency, and the fire truck has to get to the other side of the runway, what’s the proper protocol, or what should be the protocol for that?”
He added, “It’s a tragedy, and clearly, this type of thing can and should be avoided.”
One of the pilots was identified as Antoine Forest, from Coteau-du-Lac, Québec, outside Montreal, according to Journal de Montreal.
Mackenzie Gunther has been identified as the second pilot who died.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating why the crossing was cleared while the Air Canada flight was landing.
A survivor told The U.S. Sun they heard a loud “bang” after landing as the plane crashed into the truck and began to skid along the runway.
Panic ensued inside the cabin as crew and travelers scrambled to understand what had happened.
Emergency services rushed to the scene within moments, but the impact proved catastrophic for those in the cockpit.
David said, “Clearly, the pilots did everything that they could to mitigate what was about to happen.
“They sacrificed their lives doing that. We can’t look past that.
“It’s brutal. Given the impact that I saw, in some respects, it is miraculous that most [people] walked away [uninjured].
“I can tell you as a professional pilot that your training kicks in automatically. The things to escape emergencies are in muscle memory.
“So, I’m assuming had they seen [the truck] and had an opportunity to execute a go-around, they probably would have done it.”
Experts suggest poor visibility may have played a critical role in the pilots’ inability to see the fire truck in time to avoid it.
US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy also shut down rumors that there was only one air traffic controller working the tower at the time of the crash, as the plane arrived from Montreal.
An audio recording from the air traffic control tower was also released, revealing the moments before and after the collision.
“Frontier 4195, just stop there, please,” a controller was calmly heard saying.
Seconds later, the controller was heard shouting, “Stop, stop, stop, stop, truck one. Stop, stop, stop. Stop truck one. Stop.”
“I tried to reach out to ’em. I stopped, and we were dealing with an emergency earlier. I messed up,” the controller later told another person on the airwaves.
“No man, you did the best you could,” the other man replied.
Despite the tragedy, David praised air traffic controllers, saying they do a “phenomenal job”.
During a press conference, Duffy and aviation officials called on Congress to provide immediate and sustained funding to modernize the air traffic control system.
David chimed in, “I was a politician for many years. I was the mayor of a community… I was in an elected position over an airport in California.
“And I can tell you the first thing everybody screams about is, ‘We need more money’ when something happens.
“I’m not sure that a lack of funding was a proximate cause of this at all.
“But certainly, upgraded equipment and technology are always helpful, or they can be helpful if they’re utilized correctly.”
As investigators work to reconstruct the timeline, early reports suggest the sequence of events unfolded rapidly on the runway.
The Air Canada jet had been cleared for landing, and moments later, the fire truck entered the same stretch of tarmac.
Within seconds, pilots reportedly identified the obstruction ahead and attempted to abort, but the aircraft was already traveling at high speed.
Behind the scenes, controllers were also juggling more than double the normal flight load after storms battered operations.
David continued, “Naturally, we know litigation starts from incidents like these, and blame is assigned.