National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said during a press conference that the fire truck, which collided with an Air Canada regional jet on Sunday night at LaGuardia Airport in New York, did not have a transponder.
As a result, the runway warning system failed to sound an alarm moments before the horrific collision.
BREAKING: Fire truck in deadly LaGuardia collision didn’t have a transponder needed to trigger warning system, NTSB says. https://t.co/ShE8D0ncPn
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 24, 2026
More from the Associated Press:
While the NTSB hasn’t recommended that vehicles on airport grounds have transponders, they should, Homendy said.
“Air traffic controllers should know what’s before them, whether it’s on airport surface or in the airspace. They should have that information to ensure safety,” she said.
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.
Investigators don’t know yet whether the two people in the fire truck heard the control tower’s frantic, last-second warnings to stop before pulling into the plane’s path, Homendy said.
An audio recording caught an air traffic controller telling the truck driver to “stop, stop, stop” before the collision.
“Stop, stop, stop. Truck 1 stop, stop, stop,” the controller says in the clip.
“Stop truck 1. Stop. Stop truck 1,” he continued.
“Jet 646. Jet 646, I see you collide with a vehicle. Hold position; I know you can’t move. The vehicle is responding to you now,” the controller said.
Take a listen:
🚨#UPDATE: Listen as you can hear panic as air traffic controllers try to divert everyone away from LaGuardia after a jet had collided with a fire truck numerous injuries and now Fatalities are being reported pic.twitter.com/sU7OjwB2ol
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) March 23, 2026
“NTSB: The midnight shift was operating under standard operating procedures at the time of the accident. There were two people in the tower cab, the local controller and the controller in charge. The local controller signed on at 22:45 local time. The controller in charge clocked in at 22:30. It is not clear who was conducting the duties of the ground controller, and there is conflicting information, the NTSB said,” Breaking Aviation News & Videos wrote.
“NTSB chair Homendy also mentions the truck that had requested to cross the runway. ‘We do know there were other vehicles behind truck 1 that did not cross the runway.’ She says truck 1 did not have a transponder. The final 10 seconds of the CVR: 10 seconds – An electronic ’10’ call out was heard. 9 seconds – The tower instructed truck one to stop. 8 seconds – A sound consistent with the aircraft’s landing gear touching down on the runway. 6 seconds – Pilot transfer of controls from one pilot to the other. 4 seconds – Tower again instructs the truck to stop moving. 0 seconds – Recording ends,” it continued.
“NTSB chair Homendy says the ASDE-X, a surveillance system at the airport using radar and other technology, did not generate an alert due to the close proximity of vehicles merging on the runway. She adds that runway status lights were functioning as normal,” it added.
NTSB: The midnight shift was operating under standard operating procedures at the time of the accident.
There were two people in the tower cab, the local controller and the controller in charge. The local controller signed on at 22:45 local time.
The controller in charge…
— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) March 24, 2026
USA TODAY shared further:
Officials said the fire truck was responding to another aircraft operated by United Airlines, which had reported an odor issue and aborted its scheduled takeoff.
Air traffic controllers tried to stop the truck and passenger jet from colliding, according to recorded audio from before and after the crash.
According to the audio, an air traffic controller cleared a fire truck to cross Runway 4 at taxiway “Delta,” where the collision occurred. Shortly after, an air traffic controller repeatedly tried to alert the vehicle, saying “Stop, stop, stop, truck one, stop, truck one, stop.”
Following the collision, an air traffic controller can also be heard saying LaGuardia Airport is going to be closed and relaying the information to another flight. Pilots on that plane responded to air traffic control in the recording, saying “That wasn’t good to watch.”
Watch the press conference below:
