Careless error? Communication problem? Hypotheses about the cause of the fatal accident involving a plane leaving from Montreal at LaGuardia airport are gradually emerging. A pilot analyzes the collision.
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What happened in the minutes before the accident?
On Sunday, around 11:40 p.m., a Jazz Aviation plane, operating under the name Air Canada Express, collided head-on with a fire truck while landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.
Shortly before, the control tower had authorized emergency services to head towards another plane whose crew had reported a suspicious odor. The barracks are located at the west end of the airport while the aircraft to be inspected was to the east, on runway 13.
To get there, the fire vehicle had to cross runway number 4, where the Jazz Aviation plane had just been authorized to land. The collision caused the death of both pilots and injured around forty passengers.
A pilot for almost 30 years, Marc-Antoine Plourde estimates that the plane must have been traveling at more than 200 km/h at the time of impact. “He had just landed. He had slowed down a little, but he was still going very fast,” he maintains.
PHOTO SHANNON STAPLETON, REUTERS
The Jazz Aviation aircraft collided head-on with a fire truck on the landing strip.
Why did the control tower allow the Jazz Aviation plane to land?
That’s the big question. Seconds before the collision, the control tower ordered the fire truck to stop, according to recordings of the exchange made public Monday.
“The air traffic controller realized what was happening and tried to contact the fire truck, without success. We don’t even hear a “ what? ” or a “roger that” », remarks Marc-Antoine Plourde.
Did the firefighters receive the message? Was the communication system faulty? It is possible, says Mr. Plourde, just as it is possible that the air traffic controller simply made a careless error.
One thing is certain, the vehicle and the plane should never have been authorized to use the same runway, emphasizes the pilot, who himself landed several times at LaGuardia, an airport very busy during peak hours.
“The goal is not to find a culprit, but to understand why it happened and how we can change protocols so that it no longer happens. »
PHOTO BING GUAN, REUTERS
Many emergency vehicles at the collision site
Was there a shortage of staff in the control tower?
The aviation industry has experienced a shortage of air traffic controllers in recent years. Was the controller involved in the collision working consecutive shifts? Was he overworked? These are the kinds of questions the investigation will have to answer, says Mr. Plourde.
According to him, it is likely that a single controller was managing traffic on the ground and in the air at the time of the collision. The practice is common at night, he explains.
“Like most airports, there are fewer staff in the control tower because there is less traffic,” he explains. I’ve been flying planes for over 30 years and I’m used to it. »
Is it safe to fly?
Do you have a flight planned in the next few days and are worried about boarding a plane? Have no fear, reassures Marc-Antoine Plourde. Plane crashes are spectacular and attention-grabbing, but they are exceptional.
“If you look at the number of travelers every year and the number of deaths, the percentage is so tiny and it decreases from year to year,” he said.
He said the accident was likely the result of human error. “The system is very, very rigid in terms of regulations,” concludes Mr. Plourde.
