Fire truck in LaGuardia crash lacked equipment needed to trigger runway warning system, NTSB says

NEW YORK (AP) — A runway warning system failed to sound an alarm before an Air Canada jet collided with a fire truck that crossed its path while landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, federal investigators said Tuesday.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators are looking at whether that lack of warning or any other problems with the airport's layers of safety precautions could have prevented the crash.

Among the areas being explored are control tower staffing levels, who was in charge of coordinating the air and ground traffic and whether the fire truck heard the control tower’s frantic, last-second warnings to stop.

“We rarely, if ever, investigate a major accident where it was one failure," said National Transportation Safety Board chairwoman Jennifer Homendy. "When something goes wrong, that means many, many things went wrong.”

The Air Canada plane carrying more than 70 people slammed into the fire truck late Sunday, killing both pilots and injuring several passengers. 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.

There were two controllers on duty in the control tower at the time of the crash, which is typical for a late night shift, 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 aboard the United plane that the pilot said was making flight attendants feel ill.

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.

More work is needed to determine whether an alert could have prevented the crash, she said. The fire truck, which had been given permission to cross the runway to respond to an incident with the United plane, pulled onto the runway less than 20 seconds before impact, investigators said.

Just last May, the FAA urged airports that have advanced surface surveillance systems like LaGuardia’s to equip their vehicles with transponders.

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 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.

There were 72 passengers and four crew members aboard the Jazz Aviation flight, which 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, most were released within hours, 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.

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)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — An exit poll pointed to a disappointing showing for the party of Denmark’s prime minister in an election Tuesday, after a campaign that focused on bread-and-butter issues rather than her handling of the crisis over U.S. President Donald Trump 's ambitions toward Greenland.

All three parties in Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's government looked set to lose ground, according to a poll conducted by the Megafon research institute for broadcaster TV 2. It suggested that left-leaning and right-leaning blocs were likely to fall short of a majority in parliament.

If that is the case, experienced Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen — a former prime minister — could play the role of kingmaker. His centrist Moderate party could determine whether Frederiksen can serve a third term at the helm of the European Union and NATO country of some 6 million people.

The 48-year-old Frederiksen is known for strong support of Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion and for a restrictive approach to migration — continuing what has become a tradition in Danish politics.

The poll showed Frederiksen’s center-left Social Democrats remaining the biggest single party with about 21% of the vote, well below the 27.5% they took in the 2022 election.

Frederiksen called the election in February, several months before she had to. She apparently hoped that her resolute image in the standoff over Trump’s push for control of Greenland, rallying European allies behind Denmark, would help her with voters.

Her support had previously waned as the cost of living rose, something that, along with pensions and a potential wealth tax, has been a prominent campaign issue.

Social Democrat lawmaker Morten Klessen said the outgoing government had performed well, but that “there’s been a lot of trouble in Europe and I think our government has had a lot of focus about Ukraine and I think we have lost a little bit in domestic votes for that." He argued that “we need Mette Frederiksen in Europe for solidarity.”

No single party was expected to come anywhere near winning a majority. Denmark’s system of proportional representation typically produces coalition governments, traditionally made up of several parties from either the “red bloc” on the left or the “blue bloc” on the right, after weeks of negotiations.

Frederiksen’s outgoing administration was the first in decades to cross the left-right divide.

Caroline Stage Olsen, a former minister seeking election for the Moderates, argued that “a large part of the Danish population wants a center-focused government.”

She said that "difficult times call for cooperation and call for the parties and for politicians to gather up, man up, woman up and cooperate.”

Two center-right challengers hoped to oust Frederiksen as prime minister. One is in her current government — Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen of the Liberal, or Venstre, party, which headed several recent administrations but also appeared on course to win fewer seats Tuesday.

The other was Alex Vanopslagh, 34, of the opposition Liberal Alliance, which calls for lower taxes and less bureaucracy, and for Denmark to abandon its refusal to use nuclear power.

Further to the right, the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party was set to improve significantly on its very weak showing at the last election in 2022.

Greenland, which took up much of the government’s energy in recent months, wasn't a significant issue in the campaign because there is broad agreement on its place in the kingdom.

Frederiksen warned in January that an American takeover of Greenland would amount to the end of NATO. But the crisis has simmered down, at least for now.

After Trump backed down on threats to impose tariffs on Denmark and other European countries that opposed the U.S. taking control of the vast Arctic island, the U.S., Denmark and Greenland started technical talks on an Arctic security deal.

Denmark’s single-chamber parliament, the Folketing, has 179 seats. Of those, 175 go to lawmakers from Denmark itself and two each to representatives from thinly populated Greenland and the kingdom’s other semiautonomous territory, the Faroe Islands.

More than 4.3 million were eligible to vote.

Moulson reported from Berlin. James Brooks in Copenhagen, Denmark contributed to this report.

Ballots will be sorted at the end of the general election in Aalborg, Denmark, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Danish Prime Minister and Leader of the Social Democrats Mette Frederiksen meets voters at a rally in her support in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, during the general election. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Jacob Engel Schmidt from the Moderates reacts to the first exit poll during the Danish election for the parliament in Copenhagen, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Rasmus Flindt Pedersen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Members of The Social Democrats react to the first exit poll during the Danish election for the parliament in Copenhagen, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Leader of the Moderates Lars Loekke Rasmussen, center left, and leader of the Danish People's Party Morten Messerschmidt , center, right, speak during TV2's party leader debate 'The Last Answer' in the Common Hall at Christiansborg, in Copenhagen, Monday, March 23, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

A person exits a polling booth at a polling station at City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, during the general election. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

A man casts a ballot at a polling station at City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, during the general election. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

A woman holds a ballot at a polling station at City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, during the general election. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

People line up to receive their ballots at a polling station at City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, during the general election. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

FILE - Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen arrives for the EU summit in Brussels, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)

FILE - Denmark's Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of European Union defense ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Harry Nakos, File)

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, center, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, right, and Pia Olsen Dyhr, left, attend the party leader debate Democracy's Evening on DR1 at the Concert Hall, DR City in Copenhagen, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, left, and Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, right, attend the party leader debate Democracy's Evening on DR1 at the Concert Hall, DR City in Copenhagen, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)