Air-traffic controllers clocked out of work early before fatal La Guardia crash, FAA found

Two air-traffic controllers left work early before the fatal crash at New York City's LaGuardia Airport earlier this year, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has found.The March 22 collision between an Air Canada plane carrying 72 passengers and four crew and a fire truck killed two pilots and seriously injured six others.The runway warning system didn't trigger an alarm before the jet and truck collided at the airport, federal investigators said.The FAA has now found that two controllers had clocked off about an hour before their shifts ended, sources familiar with the investigation told the Wall Street Journal.This meant that the remaining staff at the LGA tower did not have backup to assist with high workloads, the sources said.Leaving early, referred to by controllers as an 'early shove,' is reportedly a common practice in the air-traffic control industry despite the FAA viewing it as timecard fraud.The FAA is now moving to fire the two workers who were found to have left early on the evening of the crash, the newspaper reported.The agency has terminated more than 10 controllers this year for alleged timecard or abuse of leave policies, the insiders said. Two air-traffic controllers at LaGuardia Airport left work an hour early on March 22, the night an Air Canada plane collided with an airport firetruck, an FAA investigation reportedly found The FAA is now moving to fire the two workers who left LaGuardia's tower, pictured, early that evening, a source told the Wall Street JournalLaGuardia was handling more than twice its usual traffic volume on the night of the incident, which also saw the airport plagued by thunderstorms and disruptions.The collision occurred around 11.30pm after the fire truck was given permission to check on a United plane that had aborted its takeoff after reporting an odor on board and started crossing the runway.An air-traffic controller can be heard on airport communications frantically telling the fire truck to stop on realizing disaster was imminent.Roughly 20 minutes later, the controller appears to blame himself. 'We were dealing with an emergency earlier,' the controller said. 'I messed up.'The crash raised questions about why the airport fire truck was crossing the runway while the Air Canada plane was landing and why it didn't stop despite frantic, last-second warnings from the control tower.The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is still investigating the crash and has not yet concluded what role tower staffing may have played in the incident, a spokesperson told the Journal.It may take investigators more than a year to determine the cause of the crash, with officials noting that aviation accidents often stem from a 'series of failures.' An aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle lays on its side off of runway 4 after colliding with an Air Canada jet on March 22 Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, pictured last week, has condemned air traffic controllers who clock out early and vowed to hold alleged time card fraudsters accountableTransportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who faced massive criticisms in the wake of the crash, on Thursday condemned controllers who clock out early and vowed to hold fraudsters accountable. '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,' he told the Daily Mail.'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.'NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said in March that LaGuardia's tower had been staffed with both a local controller and the controller in charge.The local controller manages active runways and the immediate airspace surrounding the airport while the controller in charge is responsible for the safety of all operations.On the night of the crash, the controller in charge was also doing the duties of the clearance delivery controller, who provides pilots with their departure clearance, Homendy said at the time.She added that having only two controllers for midnight shifts was standard operating procedure at LaGuardia and common practice across US airspace.Homendy did admit that staffing levels during midnight control tower shifts had long been of concern to the agency and vowed that investigators would 'scrutinize' staffing at the LaGuardia tower on the night of the crash. NTSB investigators walk the scene of the collision between an Air Canada Express plane and an airport firetruck on Runway 4 at LaGuardia which killed two pilots'We have to determine who else was in the tower and the facility and available at the time,' she said during a March press conference.Duffy referred to LaGuardia as a 'very well-staffed airport' at the same briefing.The FAA in April said it had roughly 11,000 certified air-traffic controllers employed and was training 4,000 more. It is unclear how many are currently employed by the agency. In a statement to the Daily Mail, the agency added: 'The FAA is committed to holding employees accountable, and we will not compromise the safety or efficiency of the National Airspace System.'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 percent more than in 2024. We have already met 94 percent of our hiring goal for the year.'An NTSB spokesperson said: 'The NTSB has no comment regarding reports about FAA personnel actions. Our investigation into the March accident at LaGuardia remains ongoing, and we are continuing to gather and analyze information relevant to the circumstances of the accident.'