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Tag: LaGuardia

  • Cockpit Recorders Studied In ‘Low-Speed Collision’ Of Delta Jets On LaGuardia Taxiway – KXL

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    (AP) – Two Delta Air Lines regional jets collided on the taxiway at LaGuardia Airport in New York, injuring a flight attendant, damaging a cockpit and tearing off part of a wing in what the airline described as a “low-speed collision.”

    An aircraft carrying 32 people was preparing for takeoff Wednesday night to Roanoke, Virginia, when its wing made contact with the fuselage of an aircraft arriving from Charlotte, North Carolina, with 61 people aboard, according to a statement from Delta.

    The National Transportation Safety Board said the collision happened at the intersection of two taxiways. The NTSB said it sent a team of 10 investigators to the airport, and flight recorders have already been recovered from both airplanes and sent to its headquarters for analysis.

    It wasn’t immediately clear who was at fault, but air traffic control had instructed the Virginia-bound plane “to hold short and yield to the other aircraft” before the collision, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

    A flight attendant was taken to a hospital, according to a statement from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. One of the pilots told the tower that the flight attendant told him she hit her knee when the planes collided, according to audio that www.LiveATC.net posted. There were no reports of passengers injured, the airline said.

    “Their right wing clipped our nose and the cockpit. We have damage to our windscreen and … some of our screens in here,” a pilot said, according to the air traffic control audio.

    Images of the damage showed the broken wing on one plane while the other plane’s cockpit window was shattered and its nose was deeply gouged in several places.

    The plane that had landed “stopped, jerked, and jumped to the right,” passenger William Lusk told ABC. ”Everyone went dead silent. And as everyone went dead silent, the pilot calmly came on and said, ‘Hey, we’ve been in a crash, everyone remain calm.’”

    Close calls like this could add to worries about aviation safety in the wake of recent crashes and near misses including the deadliest plane crash in the United States in decades, when an Army helicopter collided with an airliner preparing to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

    Former NTSB and FAA crash investigator Jeff Guzzetti said that the ground controller lines up planes on taxiways and directs them where to go, but the pilots are expected to avoid other planes as they move at slow speeds while controllers focus on keeping the runways clear.

    “You’re supposed to have situational awareness about where your wings are poking out at and what they could hit as you’re taxiing,” said Guzzetti, who is now an aviation safety consultant. “They (controllers) expect the flight crews to see each other since they’re taxiing at a slow speed. And the controller’s main function is to make sure the runway is clear for takeoff and landings.”

    Because this happened at night and planes typically turn off their nose lights while taxiing, it may have been more difficult for the pilots to see exactly where the other plane was, Guzzetti said. A plane’s taxi lights are on the wings. The landing lights are used to improve visibility and help make sure other pilots can see the plane, but the FAA encourages pilots to be careful not to blind other pilots because landing lights can also impair night vision.

    “Delta will work with all relevant authorities to review what occurred as safety of our customers and people comes before all else,” the statement from Delta said. “We apologize to our customers for the experience.”

    The Delta Connection aircraft involved in the collision were operated by Endeavor Air. Both are CRJ-900 planes, said the FAA, which is investigating along with the NTSB. The planes can seat 70 to 90 passengers.

    LaGuardia Airport is one of 35 major airports where the FAA has installed advanced surface radar systems that help track aircraft and vehicles on the ground and alert controllers to potential conflicts. It wasn’t clear what role the system played in this collision.

    Guzzetti said he’s not sure if that system would have sounded an audible alarm for these planes on a taxiway even though the system would have shown both planes on a display. The primary purpose of the system is to prevent collisions on runways.

    The passengers on both planes were provided meals and hotel rooms and rebooked on flights leaving on Thursday.

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    Jordan Vawter

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  • FAA investigates close call with LaGuardia’s air traffic control

    FAA investigates close call with LaGuardia’s air traffic control

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    The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating why a Southwest Airlines plane veered off course and had a close call with an air traffic control tower during an attempted landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, the agency said Thursday.The incident happened around 1 p.m. on March 23 when Southwest Flight 147 aborted its first approach to the airport because of bad weather.Video above: American woman dies on plane bound for North Carolina”Go around! Go around,” the air traffic controller is heard saying on ATC radio communication.”Continue climbing,” the air traffic controller said about 12 seconds later. “You were — not on the approach.”Southwest Airlines said the flight encountered turbulence and low visibility as it approached LaGuardia. The company said it is looking into the incident.”We are reviewing the event as part of our Safety systems,” Southwest said in a written statement.The flight was diverted to Baltimore, where it landed safely, the FAA said.The incident comes as the FAA has launched several investigations into near-collisions at U.S. airports since last year.An expert panel assembled to address the issue identified multiple issues contributing to the incidents, including inconsistent funding, outdated technology, short-staffed air traffic control towers and onerous training requirements.The panel’s report, issued in November, provided FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker with a roadmap for changes and upgrades.”The confluence of the issues we identified results in an erosion of safety margins that must be urgently addressed,” the report said.The panel was assembled after an emergency FAA safety summit in March 2023 that brought together regulators and industry groups after multiple high-profile runway incursions were reported at large U.S. airports.”We are particularly concerned because we have seen an uptick in serious close calls,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said at the time.Still, commercial plane crashes are very rare. About 45,000 flights take place each day in the US with no fatalities.CNN’s Pete Muntean and Holly Yan contributed to this report.

    CNN —

    The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating why a Southwest Airlines plane veered off course and had a close call with an air traffic control tower during an attempted landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, the agency said Thursday.

    The incident happened around 1 p.m. on March 23 when Southwest Flight 147 aborted its first approach to the airport because of bad weather.

    Video above: American woman dies on plane bound for North Carolina

    “Go around! Go around,” the air traffic controller is heard saying on ATC radio communication.

    “Continue climbing,” the air traffic controller said about 12 seconds later. “You were — not on the approach.”

    Southwest Airlines said the flight encountered turbulence and low visibility as it approached LaGuardia. The company said it is looking into the incident.

    “We are reviewing the event as part of our Safety systems,” Southwest said in a written statement.

    The flight was diverted to Baltimore, where it landed safely, the FAA said.

    The incident comes as the FAA has launched several investigations into near-collisions at U.S. airports since last year.

    An expert panel assembled to address the issue identified multiple issues contributing to the incidents, including inconsistent funding, outdated technology, short-staffed air traffic control towers and onerous training requirements.

    The panel’s report, issued in November, provided FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker with a roadmap for changes and upgrades.

    “The confluence of the issues we identified results in an erosion of safety margins that must be urgently addressed,” the report said.

    The panel was assembled after an emergency FAA safety summit in March 2023 that brought together regulators and industry groups after multiple high-profile runway incursions were reported at large U.S. airports.

    “We are particularly concerned because we have seen an uptick in serious close calls,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said at the time.

    Still, commercial plane crashes are very rare. About 45,000 flights take place each day in the US with no fatalities.

    CNN’s Pete Muntean and Holly Yan contributed to this report.

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