FAA looking to fire LaGuardia air traffic controllers after deadly March collision: Sources
The Federal Aviation Administration is looking to fire two LaGuardia Airport air traffic controllers who went home early on March 22 when a plane slammed into a Port Authority fire truck killing two pilots, sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News Thursday.
The agency is looking into allegations that the unidentified controllers left about an hour early before the Air Canada Express jet and the rescue-and-firefighting vehicle collided, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the FAA's push to fire the controllers.
Two pilots, Capt. Antoine Forest and First Officer Mackenzie Gunther, were killed, and 39 people, including the two Port Authority workers in the truck, were transported to the hospital, the National Transportation Safety Board said in its preliminary report in April.
One flight attendant, Solange Tremblay, was thrown from the plane and suffered fractures to her leg.
There were two controllers in the LGA tower the night of the crash but one controller was doing two jobs while the other controller was coordinating a different emergency, according to the NTSB. Two controllers were standard for this shift and time, a NTSB report in April noted.
It is not uncommon for controllers to leave early as many work six days a week due to staffing shortages.
A final cause of the collision is yet to be determined as the investigation continues, and a final report will be released in 12 to 24 months.
"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," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement Thursday.
The statement went on to say: "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. We will not tolerate fraud, and we are taking appropriate action to hold folks accountable and prevent unlawful practices from disrupting the traveling public."
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association said in a statement that it is "discussing these allegations with FAA leadership."
"We believe those discussions are the appropriate forum for addressing the matter," the union said in the statement.
