These were the key moments just before deadly Air Canada LaGuardia crash

U.S. officials investigating the fatal collision between an Air Canada jet and a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport said Tuesday that a runway warning system failed to sound an alarm moments before the crash.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators provided a detailed timeline of those final moments based on the cockpit voice recorder, which confirmed that the truck had been cleared to cross the runway as the Air Canada Jazz aircraft was landing.

National Transportation Safety Board chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said during a news conference that the runway warning system didn’t work as intended because the fire truck did not have a transponder.

While the NTSB hasn’t recommended that vehicles on airport grounds have transponders, Homendy said they should.

“Air traffic controllers should know what’s before them, whether it’s on airport surface or in the airspace. They should have that information to ensure safety,” she said.

2:03 Air Canada crash: LaGuardia’s safety system didn’t alert prior to fatal incident, NTSB says

The plane carrying more than 70 people slammed into the fire truck while landing late Sunday night, killing the two pilots and injuring several passengers.

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Investigators don’t know yet whether the two people in the fire truck heard the control tower’s frantic, last-second warnings to stop before pulling into the plane’s path, Homendy said.

Homendy said NTSB investigators have not yet interviewed the firefighters or determined whether they braked or turned to avoid a collision. She said investigators also have not reviewed data from the flight data recorder.

Investigators also want to know more about the role of the air traffic controllers and what they were doing while juggling a late night emergency involving another plane, but Homendy warned against jumping to conclusions.

“I would caution (against) pointing fingers at controllers and saying distraction was involved,” she said. “This is a heavy workload environment.

“We rarely, if ever, investigate a major accident where it was one failure. Our aviation system is incredibly safe because there are multiple, multiple layers of defence built in to prevent an accident. So when something goes wrong, that means many, many things went wrong.”

1:39 Air Canada crash: ‘Rarely, if ever’ do major accidents occur with only one failure, NTSB says on ‘distraction’ reports

Doug Brazy, the NTSB’s lead investigator, read through a second-by-second summary of the events leading up to the crash as captured by the cockpit recorder.

The time stamps count down to the end of the recording — the moment of the crash.

• • • • 3:07 — The approach controller instructed the airplane to contact LaGuardia tower.
      • 2:45 — The flight crew lowered the landing gear.
      • 2:22 — The flight crew checked in with the LaGuardia tower.
      • 2:17 — The LaGuardia tower cleared the airplane to land on Runway Four and advised that they were number two for landing.
      • 1:52 — The flight crew set the flaps to 30 degrees.
      • 1:33 — The flight crew set the flaps to 45 degrees
      • 1:26 — An electronic 1,000 callout occurred from the Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System, indicating that the airplane was 1,000 feet above the ground.
      • 1:12 — The flight crew confirmed that the landing checklist was complete.
      • 1:03 — An airport vehicle made a radio transmission to the tower, but that transmission was stepped on by another radio transmission and the source of that — of who made that transmission — has yet to be identified.
      • 0:54 — The flight crew acknowledged that the airplane was 500 feet above the ground and on a stable approach.
      • 0:40 — The LaGuardia tower asked which vehicle needed to cross a runway.
      • 0:28 — Truck One (the fire truck) made a radio transmission to the tower.
      • 0:26 — The tower acknowledged that radio transmission.
      • 0:25 — Truck One requested to cross Runway Four at Taxiway Delta.
      • 0:20 — The tower cleared Truck One and company to cross Runway Four at Taxiway Delta.
      • 0:19 — An electronic 100 Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System call out occurred.
      • 0:17 — Truck One read back the runway crossing clearance.
      • 0:14 — An electronic 50 call out.
      • 0:12 — An electronic 30 call out, and at that same time, the tower instructed a Frontier Airlines flight to hold position.
      • 0:11 — An electronic 20 call out occurred
      • 0:10 — An electronic 10 call out occurred.
      • 0:09 — The tower instructed Truck One to stop.
      • 0:08 — There was a sound consistent with the airplane’s landing gear touching down on the runway.
      • 0:06 — There was a pilot transfer of controls from one pilot to the other
      • 0:04 — The tower again instructed Truck One to stop.
      • 0:00 — The recording ended.

    Investigation continues

    Homendy later clarified that the pilot transfer six seconds before the crash was due to the first officer, who had been flying, transferring control to the captain.

    She said it was not yet clear if the pilots saw the fire truck on the runway, adding the recording will need to be analyzed further.

    The wreckage from the crash remained on the closed runway, which is likely to stay shut down for days during the investigation, Homendy said.

    Investigators need to sift through a lot of debris, she said. Authorities recovered the plane’s cockpit and flight data recorders by cutting a hole in the aircraft’s roof.

    1:41 Air Canada crash: Air traffic control was under ‘standard operating procedure,’ NTSB says

    There were 72 passengers and four crew members aboard the Jazz Aviation flight that originated in Montreal and was operating on behalf of Air Canada, according to the airline.

    About 40 people, including the two from the fire truck, were taken to hospitals. Some suffered serious injuries, but by Monday morning, most had been released, and others walked away without needing treatment.

    The pilot and copilot who died in the first fatal crash at LaGuardia in 34 years were both based out of Canada, said Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.

    They have been identified as Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther.

    1:48 Canadian TSB investigators join U.S. counterparts at scene of LaGuardia Airport crash

    —With files from the Associated Press