U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy speaks at a press conference after an Air Canada Express jet collided with a ground vehicle at New York's LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York, U.S., March 23, 2026. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is sparking questions after comments he made Monday about a plane crash at New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA).
An Air Canada plane late Sunday night crashed into the side of a fire truck that was headed across the tarmac to another flight that had declared an emergency. The air traffic controller audio shows the man repeatedly asking the truck to stop, but it didn't. The two Air Canada pilots died.
Duffy, at a Monday press conference, said reports that there was only one air traffic controller in the tower were inaccurate.
"This airport has a target of 37 controllers at LaGuardia," Duffy said, according to ABC7NY. "We have 33 controllers employed, certified at LaGuardia. And we have six or seven, actually, that are in training. So, as our airports go, LaGuardia is a very well-staffed airport. We're a couple of controllers short in total. But it is a well-staffed airport."
Former Department of Transportation Inspector General Mary Schiavo told CNN that the statement doesn't match up with procedure.
One piece of information that will come from the flight data recorder, Schiavo said, is whether one person was handling the communications with that specific plane and with the fire truck. If they were not the same person, were each person's communications available to the other?
CNN host Wolf Blitzer played a clip of the air traffic controller lamenting his mistake after the fact. Blitzer said that folks were likely shocked to see that the air traffic controller was still in the tower.
"Exactly. That's a great point, because they're supposed to be removed from their duties right away because obviously they're shaken up and they can't perform in that role, and they're supposed to be drug and alcohol tested, and removed from their duties. And so the question is, if the tower was fully staffed, as Secretary Duffy said yesterday, why couldn't this person be removed from his duties? And certainly you know, go through all the protocols that are necessary?" Schiavo asked.
She added that she expects it will raise a lot of questions. Other questions she said are "very important" include: "Did the aircrafthear what the fire truck wasrequesting? Did the fire truckhear that the airplane wascoming in to land?"