The National Transportation Safety Board is on the ground investigating what caused a deadly crash at LaGuardia Airport involving an Air Canada plane and a fire truck.
A preliminary analysis shows the plane was traveling 104 mph when it collided with the truck on Sunday night, killing the pilot and co-pilot.
They were identified as MacKenzie Gunther and Antoine Forest, both from Canada.
Surveillance video shows the crash and the fire truck rolling before coming to a stop. Two people were inside the truck, and both survived.
One of the plane’s flight attendants also survived after being ejected from the airplane.
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Investigators are working to get a clearer picture of how the crash happened, with early focus on air traffic control.
However, an air traffic control expert with the NTSB had difficulty reaching the crash site because of the partial government shutdown. The investigator was delayed getting to LaGuardia after being stuck in a long TSA line in Houston.
“Our air traffic control specialist who 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,” said NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy. “So it’s been a really big challenge to get the entire team here.”
The cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder have been recovered and sent to Washington, D.C., for analysis.
LaGuardia has reopened, but at reduced capacity because the plane’s wreckage is still on the runway. It could take days, possibly even weeks, to remove the wreckage.
