Some weird and wonderful moments of NY Fashion Week

What, really, is a fashion show? Discuss.

Of course, there's the well-worn formula: People wait in line for ages, sit down, wait some more, look at clothes for about 10 minutes, spend another half-hour greeting and double-cheek kissing, then go do the same thing somewhere else.

Honoree Thom Browne attends the 2017 Couture Council Award Luncheon honoring Fashion Designer Thom Browne at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017 in New York. (Photo by Brent N. Clarke/Invision/AP)

But lately, fashion shows have been stretching those boundaries. It's not a totally new trend, but the New York Fashion Week that ended Wednesday saw a fashion show as a dance performance, a fashion show as a vintage car exhibit, a fashion show as a rap concert/burlesque show (together!), a fashion show as an excuse for a big party, a fashion show as a female empowerment group and more.

Leslie Jones attends the Christian Siriano fashion show as part of NYFW Spring/Summer 2018 on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Some of it was weird, some wonderful, some both. Here are some notable moments of the week:

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FIRST: LESLIE JONES

If there's any justice, actress Leslie Jones will now be invited to every designer's front row until the end of time. She will also be dressed by every designer. This is because she was the most entertaining and supportive fan of all time at Christian Siriano's show, whooping and hollering her pleasure at her favorite designer's garments. (Samples: "Work it!!" and "I want that!" and pretend-fainting.) You'll recall, Siriano was the designer who stepped up to dress Jones when she complained on social media that she was having trouble finding a designer to dress her for the "Ghostbusters" premiere. Good move, Mr. Siriano.

Kaia Gerber models the first look at the Alexander Wang Spring 2018 fashion show held on a street in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn during New York Fashion Week, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)

THE DANCE OF FASHION

A chocolate wall (as in oozing chocolate), a celebrity beauty pageant, a martial arts display: the Opening Ceremony label has done all that, in the name of creative fashion shows. This time, the label presented a 40-minute dance piece, directed by filmmaker Spike Jonze and starring film and TV actors Mia Wasikowska and Lakeith Stanfield. The show was a touching exploration of relationships and monogamy. But where were the clothes? It was hard to get any sense of a coherent collection. And nobody was too fussed about that.

Kim Kardashian poses for a photo before the Alexander Wang Spring 2018 collection is shown in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn during New York Fashion Week, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)

WAIT. WAS THAT THE SHOW?

It's an unwritten rule: If you're going to make the fashion crowd travel far — as in, out of Manhattan — it had better be worth it. A few years ago, Alexander Wang brought crowds to the Brooklyn Navy Yard on a frigid Saturday night. All was fine until the post-show traffic jam, but the show was good. This season, Wang brought masses of people to a dead-end street in Bushwick, Brooklyn. They stood behind metal barriers for more than an hour, and some resorted to sitting on garbage dumpsters to get a view. When the models finally arrived, on a bus, they were gone in a flash — the show lasted for less than five minutes before devolving into a chaotic after-party.

The Alexander Wang Spring 2018 collection is modeled on a street in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn during New York Fashion Week, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)

A DIFFERENT KIND OF MARTINI

Then there was the simultaneous show from German-born designer (and showman) Philipp Plein, who at the same time was keeping a couple thousand people outside his Manhattan venue. It was overcrowded both outside and inside, where the rapper Future performed while an eclectic group of models — including Snoop Dogg's father — modeled the strappy leather designs. Dita von Teese did a burlesque routine that included writhing inside a giant martini glass. "I think fashion is changing, especially in this moment, yeah?" Plein said. Maybe not THIS much. VA VA VROOM!

The Public School Spring 2018 collection is modeled during New York Fashion Week, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017, in the Chinatown neighborhood of New York. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)

THEN there was Ralph Lauren, who brought people out to suburban Westchester County. But wait. First, he ferried his guests in a fleet of cars playing calming, Lauren-provided jazz music. When they got to the destination — Lauren's own garage, where he keeps his enormous vintage car collection — they were offered Champagne and pigs-in-a-blanket and fried olives (and later, dinner). In between there was a fashion show, a real one. The theme was James Bond — and of course, the cars. The clothes were cleverly synced with the aesthetics of both. In all, the luxury on display was stunning (one car alone, a Bugatti 57SC, is estimated at $40 million). Whatever you felt about the whole vibe and what it signified, it can be said that the mood was much happier than at Wang or Plein.

Designers Dao-yi Chow, left, and Maxwell Osborne greet the audience after the Public School Spring 2018 collection is shown during New York Fashion Week, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017, in the Chinatown neighborhood of New York. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)

BON VOYAGE

All the week's showmanship — and attempted showmanship — made it especially sad to see the departure, for Paris Fashion Week, of Thom Browne's women's show. The designer was known for his endlessly creative runway shows in a Chelsea gallery, often based on other-worldy themes, but always grounded in the highest-quality craftsmanship. He didn't show this time, but at the beginning of the week was awarded with the prestigious Couture Council award from the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Whoopi Goldberg, dressed in a fanciful Browne ensemble from his "bathing beauty" show, gave a heartfelt speech about how he'd made people like her, who dressed "different," feel good about it.

Models present the Tracy Reese Spring 2018 collection during New York Fashion Week, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

I AM WOMAN

Speaking of Goldberg, she was also on hand for a presentation by designer Tracy Reese that sought to give voice — in a literal way — to her models. Reese's models did something models never do on a runway: speak. "I am strength, I am grace, I am a woman," one was said softly. "A woman is strong, a woman is love, a woman is beauty," another said. Another spoke of how she admired her mother. "Often when you come to these, people don't look at the women, they're looking at the clothes, and that why we're doing this," Reese said. "I wanted people to see the woman in the clothing, and hear something about who she is."

Singapore-born designer Prabal Gurung acknowledges the crowd at the Prabal Gurung Spring/Summer 2018 fashion show during Fashion Week, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

A FIRST FOR STEINEM

There wouldn't seem to be much that Gloria Steinem, the feminist activist and author, has yet to accomplish. But it turns out that until this week, Steinem, 83, had never been to a fashion show. That changed when she sat in the front row at Prabal Gurung. "There is a first time for everything, even at 83!" Steinem posted on Instagram. She called Gurung "a kind man doing great work in fashion and beyond." It seemed like a dream come true for Gurung, who had made feminism a theme of recent seasons, and at his February show — soon after the women's marches — came out in a T-shirt saying: "This Is What a Feminist Looks Like."

Feminist Gloria Steinem takes a seat at the Prabal Gurung Spring/Summer 2018 fashion show during Fashion Week, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

CELEBRATING IMMIGRANTS

Though there was generally less political talk this season, the Public School designers, Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne, made sure that immigration was on everyone's mind. Their designs were meant to evoke everyday items often tossed aside — like plastic bags — because, Chow said, "When you think about immigrants and their contribution, they're overlooked." And Chow wore a cap that said: "DACA Dreamers," expressing solidarity with the young immigrants who came to the United States as children and are living in the country illegally. Finally, they held their streetwear show in what was once the 19th-century Five Points neighborhood, home to waves of immigrants. "It was symbolic that we meet here to celebrate the immigrant experience in New York," Chow said, "and their contributions, what they bring to New York and to the world."

Actress and TV personality Whoopi Goldberg appears at the Tracy Reese Spring 2018 collection during New York Fashion Week, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Jocelyn Noveck)

In this Sept. 10, 2017 image released by Opening Ceremony, actress Mia Wasikowska, center, appears during the Opening Ceremony and & American Express presentation, "Changers", A Dance Story," during Fashion Week in New York. The presentation, directed by filmmaker Spike Jonze, was a 40-minute dance piece. (Erin Baiano/Opening Ceremony via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — One of only two air traffic controllers on duty at LaGuardia Airport cleared a fire truck to cross a runway just 12 seconds before an Air Canada flight touched down, leaving little time to avoid the collision that killed both pilots, federal investigators said Tuesday.

The National Transportation Safety Board is working to determine which of the airport’s many layers of safety precautions failed and allowed the fire truck onto the runway Sunday night.

Among the areas being explored are whether the common practice of two controllers on duty overnight is enough, why a runway warning system didn’t alert the possibility of a crash, who was coordinating air and ground traffic, and whether the fire truck heard the controller’s last-second pleas to stop.

“We rarely, if ever, investigate a major accident where it was one failure,” said Jennifer Homendy, NTSB chair. “When something goes wrong, that means many, many things went wrong.”

Several passengers were injured when the Air Canada plane, which originated in Montreal and carried more than 70 people, slammed into the fire truck. Most, though, were able to escape the mangled aircraft, and a flight attendant still strapped in her seat survived after being thrown onto the tarmac.

NTSB investigators have not yet interviewed the firefighters, who were also injured, or found whether they braked or turned to avoid the collision, Homendy said.

Investigators 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 — a strong odor reported in the cabin of an outbound United Airlines jet.

Homendy warned against jumping to conclusions.

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

Having two controllers on duty in the control tower is typical for a late night shift but has long been a concern for the NTSB, she said. Both were early into the their shift when the crash happened.

The tower at LaGuardia had been busier than expected Sunday night because flight delays pushed the number of arrivals and departures after 10 p.m. to more than double what was scheduled, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Planes were landing every few minutes, with a dozen flights arriving between 11 p.m. and when the crash happened less than 40 minutes later. At the same time, the tower was coordinating the emergency response to the unusual odor making flight attendants feel ill.

Jeff Guzzetti, an aviation safety expert who used to investigate crashes for both the NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration, said this crash may lead to questions about whether having two controllers on the overnight shift is enough at major airports.

That has been the minimum since 2018, when the FAA imposed that requirement after several instances of controllers falling asleep while working solo.

LaGuardia is one of 35 major U.S. airports with an advanced surface surveillance system to help eliminate dangerous runway incursions and prevent crashes.

Controllers in these airports have a display in the tower that’s supposed to show them the location of every plane and vehicle.

The system, known as ASDE-X, didn’t work as intended this time because the fire truck wasn’t outfitted with a transponder, Homendy said. There were also emergency vehicles behind the fire truck that stopped in time, and the close proximity of the vehicles merging kept the system from triggering an alarm, she said.

More work is needed to determine whether an alert could have prevented the crash, she said.

Just last May, the FAA urged the 35 airports that have advanced surface surveillance systems like LaGuardia’s to equip their vehicles with transponders and said federal money was available to help pay for them.

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

“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.

Asked about the lack of a transponder in the fire truck, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, said it was “unable to comment due to the ongoing investigation.”

The NTSB laid out a timeline of the final moments after reviewing the Air Canada jet’s cockpit voice recorder, which authorities recovered by cutting a hole in the aircraft’s roof.

Investigators said that 25 seconds before the crash, the fire truck asked to cross the same runway where the plane had already been cleared to land nearly two minutes earlier.

One controller cleared the truck to cross the runway five seconds later, when the plane was a little more than 100 feet (30 meters) from the ground, the NTSB found.

Then, just nine seconds before the two collided, the tower told the fire truck to stop — a second before the plane's landing gear touched down, the NTSB said.

Homendy said that it appears that the airport’s runway status lights were working, which might have warned the fire truck driver not to cross the runway even if the controller approved it.

The lights embedded in the pavement are designed to automatically turn red when a runway is occupied to signal to vehicle operators and pilots not enter that runway.

The controller could also see the vehicles and the plane out the tower window, said John Cox, CEO of Safety Operating Systems. But there simply may not have been enough time to prevent the crash once the fire truck pulled onto the runway.

The crash came at a time of increasing frustration with air travel in the U.S., caused by long security lines because of the government shutdown, winter storms and rising costs.

While flights resumed Monday at LaGuardia — the New York region’s third busiest airport — the runway where the collision happened was still closed.

About one quarter of the airport’s flights were canceled Tuesday, according to FlightAware.com, and there were significant delays averaging more than four hours. But it did not appear the cancellations were spilling over to other airports around the U.S.

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.

About 40 people, including the two from the fire truck, were taken to hospitals. Some suffered serious injuries, most were released within hours, and others walked away without needing treatment.

Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio, and Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska. Associated Press reporters Ed White in Detroit and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed.

Jennifer Homendy, the NTSB chair, speaks during a press conference, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, at LaGuardia Airport in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Jennifer Homendy, the NTSB chair, listens to Doug Brazy, aviation accident investigator for the NTSB, speaks during a press conference, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, at LaGuardia Airport in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Aircraft maintenance workers arrive to inspect the wreckage of an Air Canada Express jet, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, just off the runway where it had collided with a Port Authority fire truck Sunday night at LaGuardia Airport in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, speaks during a news conference in New York, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

An Air Canada jet and Port Authority fire truck sit on the runway at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, after colliding with each other after the jet landed Sunday night in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

An Air Canada Express jet and Port Authority fire truck lay on the side of a runway at LaGuardia Airport, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, after colliding with each other shortly after the jet landed in New York Sunday night. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A Spirit Airlines jet taxis past an Air Canada Express jet sitting on the side of a runway, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, where it had collided with a Port Authority fire truck Sunday night at LaGuardia Airport in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)