TRUCK DRIVER:
00:01:12
Truck one and company, LaGuardia Tower, requesting to cross four at Delta.
ATC:
00:01:16
Truck one and company, cross four at Delta.
TRUCK DRIVER:
00:01:20
Truck one and company crossing four at Delta.
TOM HANSON:
00:01:22
Seconds later, the Air Canada flight collided with the fire truck.
ATC:
00:01:25
Stop. Stop. Stop. Truck one, stop. Stop. Stop.
TOM HANSON:
00:01:28
Tonight, the NTSB revealed the technology made to prevent a collision, known as the airport surface detection system, or ASDE-X did not activate because the fire truck did not have a transponder. That would have alerted the control tower to its precise location. In order for ASDE-X to work well, you have to know where ground vehicles and aircraft are. So in this case, that vehicle did not have a transponder.
TOM HANSON:
00:01:52
The two pilots died as a result of the collision. 39 people were taken to area hospitals, and six remain hospitalized tonight. NTSB investigators want to know if the two people in the fire truck heard the last-second warnings from the control tower to stop before pulling into the path of the plane. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said the air-traffic-control system needs to be better. Controllers should have all the information and the tools to do their job. This is 2026.
TOM HANSON:
00:02:19
The NTSB also confirmed two air traffic controllers were on duty at the time of the crash, calling it standard staffing for the overnight shift. Homendy said it was unclear, however, who was in charge of communicating with the vehicles on the ground when the crash happened. And NTSB said they planned to hold interviews with the on-duty air traffic controllers this afternoon. They also said that they planned to do the same with those firefighters in that truck, Tony. Tom Hanson leading us off. Tom, thank you.
