U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday afternoon that there was more than one air traffic controller (ATC) in the tower at LaGuardia Airport (KLGA) during Sunday’s fatal runway collision between an Air Canada jet and fire truck.
Duffy in a news conference said the “rumor” that a LaGuardia controller—who moments after the crash said he “messed up”—was working alone, is “inaccurate.” He implied that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is investigating the incident with Canadian partners, is aware of the tower’s staffing levels Sunday night.
New York’s WNBC-TV reported earlier Monday, citing two sources, that a controller in the tower was handling two positions at the time of impact. On LiveATC audio, the controller who cleared the fire truck to cross LaGuardia’s Runway 4 could later be heard giving go-around instructions to an approaching Delta Air Lines flight.
“Air traffic controllers work every day to keep passengers and cargo moving safely and efficiently,” the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) said in a statement Monday. “We serve quietly, but moments like this remind us of the responsibility we carry—and how deeply it stays with us when tragedy occurs.”
Duffy said LaGuardia is a “very well-staffed airport” but declined to share specifics on the previous night’s staffing, leaving those to the NTSB. He said the tower has a staffing target of 37 controllers and employs 33, with another seven in training. Those trainees, he said, “have a lot of experience in different facilities, but they have to be trained up in this airspace,” which could take more than one year.
The pilot and copilot of the Air Canada flight—a Bombardier CRJ-900 with 72 passengers and four crew—both died in the collision. Officials have not identified the pilots, but FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said Monday that they were “two young men at the start of their careers.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who also attended Monday’s news conference, described the incident as an “aviation disaster the likes of which we haven’t seen here in three decades.” Per Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, LaGuardia had not suffered a fatal incident in 34 years.
Two Port Authority officials operating the fire truck were hospitalized in stable condition with broken bones. Garcia said that one will be released Monday from New York-Presbyterian Hospital, while the other will remain overnight for observation.
The CRJ struck the fire truck at about 104 mph, its nose impacting the center of the truck. An impact with the aircraft’s wings, engines, or belly—where fuel is stored—could have caused a larger disaster.
Thirty-nine passengers on the jet were injured, some seriously. Many were released from local hospitals Monday morning and afternoon.
“This could have been an even broader tragedy if everyone had not responded as quickly and effectively as they did,” said Garcia.
Garcia said that LaGuardia reopened for passengers around 5:30 a.m. EDT. The airport at 2 p.m. restarted operations with one runway, and a flight took off minutes later. Still, the incident caused hundreds of cancellations, per FlightAware. Delta, the airport’s largest carrier, said it automatically rebooked affected customers but warned that “additional schedule adjustments can be expected as teams work to support safe operations and manage delays.”
The plane and fire truck remained on Runway 4 on Monday afternoon as investigators walked the scene. Duffy said the airport’s capacity could remain reduced “for some time.”
Tragedy at LaGuardia
WNBC-TV on Monday afternoon shared video of Sunday’s collision. The fire truck can be seen crossing the runway as the CRJ lands and begins to decelerate before making a hard impact. The plane’s nose took the brunt of the damage, with the rest of the airframe remaining relatively intact.
Duffy said he and Bedford visited the site, calling it “incredibly sad” and “troubling.”
Among the injured is a flight attendant who was ejected from the plane but was found by responders strapped in her jumpseat. The flight attendant’s daughter told Canadian broadcaster TVA Nouvelles that her mother suffered a broken leg and will need surgery.
“When you’re traveling by air, you should wear your seat belt,” Duffy said. “As you’ve seen from last night, they do save lives.”
Among the plane’s passengers was an unaccompanied minor who has since been reunited with their family, WNBC-TV reported.
With the pilots incapacitated, passengers located emergency exits and evacuated themselves, jumping off the wing to the tarmac. One told The New York Times that emergency slides did not activate.
“At this early stage, we do not have all the answers, as the circumstances are still being assessed,” Air Canada president and CEO Mark Rousseau said in a video statement Monday afternoon.
The airline has created a hotline for information on the plane’s passengers at 1-800-961-7099.
The NTSB, FAA, Transportation Safety Board of Canada, and Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) accident investigation team are working to explain what caused the tragedy. NATCA’s Critical Incident Stress Management is assisting controllers, and ALPA’s Critical Incident Response Program is supporting its members and their families.
Duffy Calls for ATC Changes
Though he did not blame the LaGuardia controller for Sunday’s incident, Duffy on Monday took the opportunity to call for additional funding to support the DOT’s Brand New ATC System (BNATCS) plan.
BNATCS got $12.5 billion from Congress last year. But Duffy is seeking about $31.5 billion for a variety of upgrades, including the installation of hundreds of new systems and facilities.
“I’ve been asking the Congress for additional money…we need more money for air traffic control,” he said Monday. “But we can’t fully modernize it until Congress gives us the additional money.”
The FAA has taken steps to reduce runway incidents, but challenges remain. The agency in 2023 held a series of runway safety meetings, created new units and guidance for runway safety, and invested hundreds of millions of dollars in new runway lighting systems, surface awareness systems, and other mitigations.
Still, a watchdog in 2025 found that the FAA has failed to implement all of the recommendations it received from an independent Safety Review Team. It found the agency lacks the ability to adequately assess runway safety risk.
LaGuardia is one of 35 major U.S. airports equipped with the FAA’s ASDE-X surface surveillance system. Its control tower is considered by the FAA to be among the most complex, with a rating of 11 out of 12.
Duffy said that despite a surge in ATC hiring and incentives such as bonuses intended to improve recruitment and retention, LaGuardia’s airspace is complex and requires intensive training. Once they are in the tower, controllers are often met with antiquated technology, such as the copper wiring that contributed to radar blackouts at Newark Liberty International Airport (KEWR) in May. That wiring has since been upgraded to a fiber optic cable.
A controller in the LaGuardia tower seemed to take responsibility for Sunday’s incident.
The CRJ was cleared for landing at around 11:35 p.m. EDT. About 10 minutes later, a controller cleared the fire truck to cross Runway 4 and respond to an unusual odor emanating from a United plane. Seconds later, the controller could be heard frantically attempting to get the truck to stop.
“That was…that wasn’t good to watch,” a Frontier Airlines pilot said about 15 minutes later.
“Yeah, I know. I was here,” the controller replied. “We were dealing with an emergency earlier, and…I messed up.”
“No, man, you did the best you could,” the pilot responded.
Bedford said that weather conditions were far from ideal at the time of impact. He said there were “moderate winds” up to about 7 knots, “broken ceilings” at about 9,000 feet, and mist and fog that reduced visibility to about four miles. Bedford added that the FAA will “take concrete actions to ensure something like this will never happen again.”
“NATCA has been and remains supportive of taking all possible steps to ensure America maintains the best and safest air traffic control system in the world,” the union said Monday. “We will be a ready partner with the administration and Congress in any effort to further modernize the ATC system to maximize safety and protect lives.”