Air traffic controller staffing at LaGuardia airport during the incident involving an Air Canada jet and a fire truck may have breached the facility’s protocols by combining roles before midnight, according to a document reviewed by Reuters. The collision at the New York airport on March 22, which tragically resulted in the loss of both pilots, has reignited concerns about the shortage of air traffic controllers in the United States and the workload placed on controllers nationwide.
Controllers, including those at the supervisor level, are frequently required to take on dual roles handling both local air traffic and ground operations due to staffing shortages, as reported by multiple air traffic controllers across the country. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced that as part of its investigation into the crash, it was looking into the specific duties carried out by each controller involved.
If the controller responsible for the incident was found to be managing both air and ground duties, this would contradict the standard operating procedures of the LaGuardia tower. The NTSB had implemented new procedures following a 1997 collision at the same airport to ensure that local and ground positions remain separate before midnight. These rules were still in effect as of 2023, based on a document outlining the LaGuardia tower’s operating procedures.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which oversees U.S. air traffic control, stated its cooperation with the NTSB’s accident investigations and emphasized its commitment to taking any necessary safety measures based on the investigation findings. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy disclosed that at the time of the accident, two controllers were on duty, with one managing the active runways and airspace, and the other handling departure clearances for pilots. The specific duties of the ground controller involved in the incident were not clear, leading to conflicting information among sources.
The NTSB did not respond to requests for comments. Air crash investigations commonly attribute accidents to multiple contributing factors rather than a single cause. The LaGuardia standard operating procedures mandate that positions should not be combined until midnight at the earliest and should only be consolidated based on traffic demands, with positions being separated as traffic volume increases.
On the evening of the Air Canada collision, weather-related delays led to an increased number of commercial flights at LaGuardia airport compared to the average, resulting in a busy workload for controllers. Controllers noted that additional staff were often brought in or remained on duty past their scheduled shift to manage the heightened flight activity. An anonymous New York-area controller emphasized that the local and ground positions should have remained separate until at least midnight, highlighting the complexity and volume of air traffic on that particular night.