Controllers Were Handling Odor Issue Before LaGuardia Crash

Just before an Air Canada jet hit a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport on Sunday night, air traffic controllers in the tower were busy managing a separate emergency involving a different plane, newly reviewed audio suggests. The collision killed both Air Canada pilots and shut down the airport for hours. Recordings posted on LiveATC.net and reviewed by the New York Times capture controllers working for several minutes with the crew of a United Airlines flight, which had aborted takeoff 15 to 20 minutes prior to the collision because of a strong odor in the cabin. The United pilot reported that flight attendants were feeling sick, described the smell as "weird" and hard to define, and said she was trying—unsuccessfully—to reach airport operations for a gate to return to. Another pilot on frequency mentioned a "sewer smell" in the same area.

As the United crew formally declared an emergency, the controller coordinated with firefighters and airport officials, telling United that emergency vehicles were on the way and asking responders whether they were calling the tower or ground. Less than a minute before the Air Canada crash on Runway 4, that same controller could be heard still relaying updates about the odor incident. At nearly the same time, a different controller appeared to clear a Port Authority fire truck to cross the runway where the Air Canada plane had just landed—so that it could offer stairs to evacuate the plane because no gate was available, WANE 15 reports—then quickly shouted, "stop, Truck 1, stop!" according to the audio.

Several minutes after the collision, a controller told a Frontier pilot that the airport was closed and added, "we were dealing with an emergency earlier," later saying on frequency, "I messed up." The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation, which will examine, among other questions, how many controllers were on duty in the tower around 11:37pm. The transportation secretary called it a "rumor" that only one controller had been working and said LaGuardia is generally well staffed, though experts note towers typically run with fewer controllers overnight. Conditions at the time included rain, mist, fog and about four miles of visibility; the source of the odor on the United plane remains unknown. About 40 passengers and crew from the plane, plus both officers onboard the fire truck, were taken to the hospital with injuries following the collision, but most had been released by Monday morning, the AP reports.