US safety agency says tracking system failed at LaGuardia during jet collision
“ASDE-X did not generate an alert due to the close proximity of vehicles,” said Jennifer Homendy, chair of the investigation, at a press conference.
Emergency services work at the scene after an Air Canada Express jet collided with a ground vehicle at New York's LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York, US on Mar 23, 2026. (Photo: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)
NEW YORK: The National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday (Mar 24) that a system which would have allowed a New York airport controller to track movement of aircraft and vehicles did not alert during a Sunday night fatal collision between an Air Canada commercial jet and a truck that killed two pilots.
The NTSB, an independent safety agency, is leading the investigation into the collision of the Air Canada Express CRJ-900 jet with a firetruck at LaGuardia Airport, which injured dozens of passengers. The flight, operated by regional partner Jazz Aviation, had 72 passengers and four crew.
"ASDE-X did not generate an alert due to the close proximity of vehicles merging and unmerging near the runway, resulting in the inability to create a track of high confidence," NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters in New York.
ASDE-X, or the Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model XS is a surveillance system designed to help reduce runway incursions that allows air traffic controllers to track surface movement of aircraft and vehicles.
Homendy also said the truck, which was crossing a LaGuardia Airport runway to assist a separate plane, did not have a transponder, unlike trucks at other airports in the United States.
She said it is unclear if any technology would have prevented the incident since it happened so fast.
Homendy added there were two controllers working in the glass-enclosed section of the airport's traffic control tower.
DELAYS AND CANCELLATIONS
New York's LaGuardia airport is facing significant delays and cancellations for the second straight day following the deadly collision.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it does not expect one of the two runways at the New York airport to reopen until Friday.
FlightAware, a flight tracking site, said 221 flights, or 20 per cent, had been cancelled and 214 delayed as of 9.45am EDT.
Air crashes typically are caused by multiple factors. According to a separate audio posted by liveatc.net, an unidentified controller who appears to be the one involved in the crash told another pilot after the collision that he had been dealing with an emergency earlier.
"I messed up," he said in a shaken voice.
Air traffic controllers routinely handle multiple flights, and four commercial pilots told Reuters it was not uncommon to have one controller covering both the ground and tower, two distinct air traffic control roles, at LaGuardia and other major metropolitan airports.
