LaGuardia Crash Highlights Controller Stress

0:00It's March 23rd. You're listening to Durham News today, AI-powered local news. Late Sunday night at New York's LaGuardia Airport, an air-candidate jet from Montreal collided with a fire truck on the runway, killing the plane's pilot, and co-pilot. The fire truck was rushing to help a United Airlines flight that had a board to take off twice after passengers smelled an odor and flight attendance fell. Controllers were stretched thin with no gate available for the United plane, so they sent fire trucks and stairs for a quick evacuation while juggling. Other flights. That's when the air-candidate jet touched down and hit one of the trucks crossing the runway. Aviation experts say this crash shines a light on the huge stress air traffic controllers face every day from staffing shortages in outdated gear. The country is short about 3,000 controllers right now, leading to overtime and tough schedules. LaGuardia has 33 controllers assigned, just shy of its target of 37, with seven more in training.

1:01Officials call the tower generally well-staffed, but transportation secretary Sean Duffy has pledged to boost hiring and upgrade equipment. Investigators are still piecing together what went wrong amid these ongoing challenges, pushing for real fixes to keep airports safer.