2 LaGuardia air traffic controllers left work an hour early before deadly crash, AP source says

Two air traffic controllers could be fired for leaving the tower at New York's LaGuardia Airport about an hour early on the night that an Air Canada jet smashed into a fire truck crossing the runway, killing both pilots, according to a government official familiar with the investigation.

The official was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter due to the ongoing National Transportation Safety Board investigation of the March 22 crash and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity Friday.

Because the two controllers left work early that night, there were only two people left in the tower to direct an unusual flurry of flights while dealing with an emergency on another plane on the ground. The controllers who left could have provided crucial backup when the tower got busy if they had remained at the airport until the end of their shifts because they were scheduled to be there past when the crash happened, the official said.

The Federal Aviation Administration is pursuing disciplinary action against the two controllers who left early — up to firing the pair, the government official said.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association said in a statement the union “is actively discussing these allegations with FAA leadership.”

Experts and retired officials said leaving the airport early when a required break falls at the end of a shift is a common practice nationwide known as an “early shove.”

The FAA said in a statement that the agency “is committed to holding employees accountable, and we will not compromise the safety or efficiency of the national airspace system.”

Tom Linter saw early departures repeatedly during his decades-long career at the FAA that included a stint as a LaGuardia controller before going on to oversee all air traffic control investigations, but he said it shouldn't be allowed to continue.

“None of that excuses the issue about when you get paid for eight hours, you’re supposed to be there for eight hours. Seven and a half doesn’t count,” Linter said.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said this amounts to timecard fraud that won't be tolerated.

“The vast majority of air-traffic controllers are great patriots — they show up for work, complete their full shift, and come back and do it all again,” Duffy said in a statement. “But when a small percentage of individuals take advantage of the American taxpayer, unfairly add additional work to their fellow controllers, and impact the airspace — we have no choice but to act."

The Wall Street Journal first reported Thursday that the two controllers are facing disciplinary action after leaving early.

The NTSB declined to comment on the news about the controllers leaving early. The agency expects every organization involved in an investigation to remain silent while experts work to determine what caused the crash and how to prevent similar tragedies in the future. Air Canada and union officials across the industry did not respond to questions.

Right away, investigators had questions about staffing in the tower, but they have also identified a number of other factors that likely contributed to the crash. The official cause won't be clear until the NTSB publishes its final report, likely sometime next year.

The firefighters whose truck collided with the plane heard an air traffic controller say “stop, stop, stop” but didn’t know who the warning was for, according to a preliminary report by the NTSB released in April.

Just seconds earlier, a controller had cleared the fire truck to cross the runway, but the truck started moving while warning lights that act as a stop sign for crossing traffic were still lit.

Because the truck lacked a transponder, a surface monitoring system in the control tower was unable to reliably determine its position, “did not predict a potential conflict” with the landing plane and did not generate an audio or visual alert, the April NTSB report said.

After the air traffic controller’s initial stop warning, the fire truck’s turret operator heard the controller say, “Truck 1, stop, stop, stop,” and realized he was telling the truck to halt, the report said. By then, the truck was already on the runway as Air Canada Express Flight 8646 was landing and speeding toward it.

The fire truck was leading a convoy of vehicles, including four other fire trucks, a police car and a stair truck, responding to an emergency involving a strong odor that was making flight attendants feel ill aboard a departing United Airlines jet.

The Air Canada plane, a CRJ900 regional jet from Montreal, was carrying 76 people. Pilots Antoine Forest, 30, and Mackenzie Gunther, 24, were killed. It was the first deadly crash at LaGuardia in 34 years.

In addition, 39 people were taken to hospitals, including six described as seriously injured. The two fire truck crew members recovered at home after being released from the hospital.

A flight attendant still strapped in her seat survived after being thrown onto the tarmac.

LaGuardia was busier than usual the night of the crash because weather-related flight delays pushed the number of arrivals and departures after 10 p.m. to more than double what was scheduled, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Two air traffic controllers were on duty when the crash happened around 11:45 p.m. That level of staffing is common on the overnight shift that begins at midnight.

Planes were landing every few minutes, with a dozen flights arriving between 11 p.m. and when the crash happened less than 40 minutes later. At the same time, the controllers had to shuffle their duties because of the emergency response to the odor issue on the United plane.

Associated Press writers Chris Weber and Rio Yamat contributed to this story.