Grace, what is communication like between ATC and vehicles like this fire truck, please? Same as between flight deck and ATC with headphones/VHF or is it entirely different? TIA, and glad you’re retired, too
There are passengers who choose to sit in exit rows because they like the extra leg space
Not sure I'd trust someone with this attitude to do the right thing in an emergency. JMOI think there's some misinformation out there, CNN cites that the plane was travelling at 104 mph at impact - it had just touched down. Perhaps the fire truck was moving at 30 mph.
www.independent.co.uk
www.nbcnews.com
I sit there because I am ready, willing, and able to open the emergency exit if needed.There are passengers who choose to sit in exit rows because they like the extra leg space
From the link:
www.independent.co.uk
That truly is a miracle. I had wondered if she survived after reading news that a flight attendant had been ejected.The daughter of Solange Tremblay, an Air Canada flight attendant, said her mother survived the deadly LaGuardia crash after being violently ejected from the aircraft while still strapped into her jump seat.
Her daughter, Sarah Lépine, said Tremblay was found following the impact and rushed to the hospital. She suffered a broken leg that will require surgery, but her injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
Lépine described her mother’s survival as extraordinary, calling it “nothing short of a miracle.” She added that the family is grateful for her recovery and hopeful as she begins to heal.
I hope they don't just pin this crash on the air traffic controller, without taking a look at the systematic failures that led to this horrific incident.
It is believed a single controller was working both the approach to LaGuardia and the ground movements at the airport. In other words, he was issuing instructions to the crew of the incoming aircraft, planes moving on the ground and vehicles on the airfield.
This seems crazy at an airport as busy as LaGuardia. Even at night, there's just too much going on for a single person to handle it all.
Chronically understaffed and overstretched, according to Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (Natca). Last year he told the House Subcommittee on Aviation: “These dedicated professionals continue to work short-staffed, often six days a week, ten hours a day for years at a time, using outdated equipment and in rundown facilities that are in many cases more than 60 years old and are long overdue to be modernised and/or replaced.”
This is the second fatal crash we've had in as many years, due at least in part to controllers who are given too much to handle at one time. For various political reasons, they've been kicking the can down the road on fixing this situation. But if something isn't done and soon, I have no doubt we will see more incidents in the future.
New York LaGuardia tragedy highlights air traffic control overstretch
‘These dedicated professionals often work six days a week, ten hours a day’ said the president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
After 3 minutes on the ground, it seems odd to me that it’d still be braking/traveling at that speed? I could see 1 minute, maybe a little bit more (?)A basic timeline:
"11.37 p.m. - The passenger plane landed at LaGuardia in New York.
"In the moments before the aircraft collided with the fire truck on the runway, an air traffic controller was heard on a radio transmission giving clearance to a vehicle to cross part of the tarmac, then trying to stop it.
...
"11:40 p.m/ 11. 45 p.m. (approx) - The plane collided with the Port Authority fire truck on runway 4 at a speed of 93 to 105 mph, according to flight tracking site FlightRadar24."
Timeline spells out what went wrong and led to deadly LaGuardia plane crash
Panicked dispatchers were heard on air traffic control audio desperately trying to avert disaster
I'm not sure why the Independent decided to be vague about the time of the crash: NBC reports it as 11:40 pm, ie 3 minutes after touchdown, which accords with a witness account.
Flights resume after 2 dead, dozens injured in Air Canada crash at LaGuardia
Follow live updates and the latest news on the collision between an Air Canada jet and a Port Authority vehicle at LaGuardia Airport.
It is hard to tell. Did the drive see the plane and try to avoid, or was he intending to turn left all along. His best bet might have to try hit the gas and try to get across, but I'm not sure there was time for that either.
