Two air traffic controllers overseeing New York-LaGuardia left early on the night of a fatal crash between an Air Canada jet and an airport fire truck, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, the newspaper said the FAA is moving to fire the two controllers. They allegedly left their shifts about an hour early on March 22, leaving two remaining controllers with no backup on a busy night.
The Journal did not identify the controllers. Both are believed to be on leave.
“The FAA is committed to holding employees accountable, and we will not compromise the safety or efficiency of the National Airspace System,” the FAA said in a statement. “At the same time, we are strengthening our workforce at a record pace, with more than 2,000 controllers hired in 2026, the most in a single year and 20% more than in 2024.”
Air Canada Express Flight 8646 collided with an airport firefighting truck while landing at LaGuardia after a flight from Montreal. The crash destroyed the Bombardier CRJ900’s cockpit and killed the two pilots. Thirty-nine others, including passengers on the aircraft and the occupants of the fire truck, were injured.
The truck was heading for a United aircraft that had aborted a takeoff because of a strange smell on board. The vehicle was cleared to cross the runway where the Air Canada jet was landing.
Air traffic control recordings indicate a controller attempted to get the truck to stop, but the warning came too late to avert a collision.
The NTSB is investigating the accident.
