Fire Truck Heard “Stop” From ATC But Did Not Know It Was For Them The NTSB’s preliminary report for the deadly crash at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) on March 22 indicates that the driver of the fire truck and the pilot each attempted to swerve to avoid the collision seconds before impact. There were two air traffic controllers in the LGA tower the night of the crash, but one controller was doing both jobs while the other controller was coordinating a different emergency. The Air Canada Express, Jazz Flight 8646, a CRJ900, collided with a Port Authority fire truck while landing on Runway 04 at LaGuardia Airport (LGA), killing both pilots and injuring 41 others. In an interview with the NTSB, the fire truck’s “turret operator” said he recalled hearing the controller say “Stop stop stop” but didn’t know who that transmission was intended for. He then heard “Truck 1 stop stop stop,” realized it was for his vehicle, and noticed they had entered the runway.
