The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the Air Canada crash that killed two pilots at LaGuardia on Sunday, but other air travel issues are causing delays.
Jennifer Homendy, chair of the NTSB, said on Monday that one investigator brought in to investigate the deadly crash was stuck in the TSA line at an airport in Houston for hours.
“Our air traffic control specialist was in line with TSA for three hours until we called in Houston to beg to see if we can get her through so we can get her here,” Homendy said during a press conference.
A combination of TSA delays, Newark’s temporary ground stop, and the collision that caused LaGuardia to temporarily close made it “a really big challenge” to quickly assemble the full team in New York. The team assembled by plane, train, and automobile to reach the investigation site.
“Right up until about, I think the latest I saw was midnight, maybe 1 a.m. tomorrow morning,” she said. “So it is a long travel day for many of those.”
On Sunday, an Air Canada regional jet collided with a ground vehicle
As of Monday evening, one runway remains closed at LGA due to the wreckage and investigation needs.
Homendy said there isn’t yet much information she can provide, since the NTSB is still collecting data and conducting interviews.
Flight data shows the incident that took place late Sunday night involved Flight AC8646, a CRJ-900 operated by Jazz Aviation as Air Canada Express, which departed Montreal at about 10:35 p.m. ET and landed at LaGuardia around 11:37 p.m. ET.
Within a minute, emergency responders were alerted to a collision between the aircraft and a Port Authority rescue vehicle on the runway. Air traffic control audio captured a controller urgently warning the truck to stop moments before impact. The airport was officially closed at 3:16 a.m. ET on Monday, based on federal alerts.
By early Monday, officials confirmed the two pilots had died. The fire truck involved had been responding to a separate aircraft issue, and two officers aboard it were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. In total, 41 people were taken to hospitals, most of whom were later released.
Homendy said the aircraft’s “black boxes” — which are actually orange and include cockpit audio and flight data leading up to the collision — have been retrieved and sent to the NTSB lab in Washington, DC, for review.
Operations at LaGuardia resumed gradually on Monday. One runway, Runway 13/31, reopened by midafternoon while the incident runway, Runway 4/22, remained closed due to the wreckage.
Homendy said it could take “days” to clear the plane, adding there was a lot of debris.
The disruption rippled across the air travel system that is already under strain due to the partial government shutdown. About 600 flights were canceled due to the crash, and Delta Air Lines temporarily suspended service from LaGuardia Airport. Officials warned travelers to expect continued delays and cancellations.
The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation, with federal officials on-site.
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