A system designed to help air-traffic controllers monitor vehicles and airplanes on the ground failed to alert personnel at LaGuardia Airport before an Air Canada Express jet collided with a fire truck late Sunday evening, killing the two pilots.
An analysis found the system, known as ASDE-X, issued no alert to the two controllers in the tower due to “the close proximity of vehicles merging and unmerging near the runway,” U.S. National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said during a news conference on Tuesday.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey fire truck involved in the crash also wasn’t equipped with a transponder that would have helped pinpoint its location, Homendy said. The Federal Aviation Administration last year encouraged airports with ASDE-X to voluntarily equip their vehicles with special transmitters to “improve airfield safety.”
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.