By Michael R. Sisak, Josh Funk and John Seewer
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Investigators looking into the collision between an Air Canada jet and a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport are reviewing the cockpit voice recorder and what was happening inside the control tower moments before the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board plans to share more details about their initial investigation at a news conference Tuesday.
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The plane carrying more than 70 people slammed into the fire truck while landing late Sunday night, killing the two pilots and injuring several passengers. Most, though, were able to escape the mangled aircraft, and a flight attendant still strapped in her seat survived after being thrown onto the tarmac.
Many questions remain about why the airport fire truck was crossing the runway while the plane was landing and why it didn’t stop despite frantic, last-second warnings from the control tower.
Investigators also want to know more about the role of the air traffic controllers and whether they were distracted while juggling a late-night emergency with another plane.
The crash came at a time of increasing frustration with air travel in the U.S., caused by long security lines because of the government shutdown, winter storms and rising costs.
While flights resumed Monday at LaGuardia — the New York region’s third busiest airport — the runway where the collision happened was still closed.
About one quarter of the airport’s flights were cancelled Tuesday, according to FlightAware.com, and there were significant delays averaging more than four hours. But it did not appear the cancellations were spilling over to other airports around the U.S.
The wreckage from the crash remained on the closed runway, which is likely to stay shut down for days during the investigation, according to Jennifer Homendy, chair of the NTSB.
Investigators need to sift through a lot of debris, she said.
Authorities recovered the plane’s cockpit and flight data recorders by cutting a hole in the aircraft’s roof and then drove them to the NTSB lab in Washington for analysis, Homendy said.
There were 72 passengers and four crew members aboard the Jazz Aviation flight that originated in Montreal and was operating on behalf of Air Canada, according to the airline.
About 40 people, including the two from the fire truck, were taken to hospitals. Some suffered serious injuries, but by Monday morning, most had been released, and others walked away without needing treatment.
The pilot and copilot who died in the first fatal crash at LaGuardia in 34 years were both based out of Canada, said Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.
