MADISON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Two pilots are dead and dozens are recovering after an Air Canada plane crashed into a fire truck on a runway at New York's LaGuardia Airport Sunday night.
Now, the National Transportation Safety Board is questioning whether more air traffic controllers should be staffed during the overnight shift.
Investigators said two controllers were working in the tower at the time, which is standard procedure, but at least one controller may have been handling several tasks at once. The NTSB said the controller overseeing all safety operations was also acting as the clearance delivery controller, who gives pilots permission to depart.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said task saturation was an issue.
Audio captured the moments before the disaster. An air traffic controller is heard saying, "Stop truck one, stop, stop, stop."
Then, after the collision, they said, "I messed up."
Dr. Tim Holt, a 22-year Navy veteran and the executive director for EKU's Aviation Department, has been involved in the aviation industry as a pilot, executive, and educator. He said a tragedy like this causes more questions than answers.
"When you hear that, you know your heart pretty much breaks," Holt said. "You just feel for him."
According to Holt, there are air traffic controllers looking at the whole national airspace, as well as the ground movement of aircrafts, and those that are "okaying" planes for landing, landing and in between.
"You're talking to the ground to get permission to move on the ground, and then you switch over to tower to actually get permission to fly, and that's who you're talking with you when you're coming in for landing. Then you're switching over to ground to get back to the taxiway," Holt said.
As investigators continue their work, Holt is reminding everyone to show compassion for those in the industry.
"We take what we call the aviation ecosystem, very serious. We take our safety and security extremely serious, and the people were moving. There's a humanity to it," Holt said.
