A pilot and co-pilot were killed, two Port Authority police officers suffered broken bones, and more than 40 people were injured when an Air Canada plane landing at LaGuardia Airport collided with an emergency truck on a runway late Sunday night. So how does something like that happen? An in vestigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) got underway Monday, while Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy took time during an afternoon press conference to address some speculation. Duffy wouldn’t share how many air traffic controllers were in the Queens airport’s tower at the time of the collision, but he did say that relative to other U.S. airports, LaGuardia is overall well-staffed. LaGuardia Airport 12 hours ago What to know about deadly collision between jet and fire truck at LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport 13 hours ago LaGuardia crash underscores pressure on already strained air traffic control workforce LaGuardia Airport 24 hours ago ‘I messed up': Audio captures air traffic conversation before, after LGA crash When asked about viral rumors that only one air traffic controller was working in the tower at the time of the accident. “That’s not accurate,” Duffy responded. “I can’t give specifics on what went wrong,” Duffy said, deferring to the NTSB, which is leading the investigation. The disastrous chain of events on Runway 4 began with a tower controller granting a Port Authority fire truck permission to cross. The controller gave permission, and the fire crew began to move. “Truck 1 and Company crossing 4 at Delta,” was heard on the air traffic control transmission. Soon after, the tower can be heard realizing a catastrophe was about to unfold. “Stop, stop, stop stop! Truck 1, stop, stop, stop” the controller said. But it was too late. Video showed the deadly collision on the runway. Aviation attorney Kevin Mahoney said one thing was clear from the control tower audio: the controller was trying to manage both ground and air space the same time. Mahoney said doing so isn’t rare, but it is demanding. “A controller handling two frequencies is not uncommon especially these days given the FAA’s staffing constraints. Whether it should be, I think is another question,” Mahoney told NBC New York. Mahoney’s law firm, Kreindler, represents families impacted by the airplane and helicopter crash above the Potomac River in the nation’s capital in 2025. He expects investigators examining the LaGuardia collision to consider whether the controller was overburdened dealing with an emergency on the tarmac while also landing incoming airliners. “What investigators will be looking at, however, will be the last 24 to 72 hours in this controller’s life. He’ll be interviewed. He’ll be asked to describe when he came to work, when he went to sleep. How much rest he got,” Mahoney described. For years, Sec. Duffy and other transportation leaders have warned about a shortage of air traffic controllers. In 2024, the former FAA administrator cited “serious concerns with respect to controller fatigue and off duty time.” It was not clear whether fatigue or staffing shortages played any role in the LaGuardia collision. After the airport was closed Sunday night, a colleague could be heard try to comfort the tower controller who cleared the fire crew to cross. “I tried to reach out to my stuff, and we were dealing with an emergency earlier. I messed up,” a controller can be heard saying. The colleague responded: “No, man, you did the best you could.” ...read more read less