‘I Messed Up’: Air Traffic Controller Heard Admitting Blame for Deadly LaGuardia Runway Crash

A beleaguered air traffic control officer was heard saying, “I messed up,” moments after an Air Canada passenger jet collided with a fire truck on the runway at New York’s LaGuardia Airport late Sunday, leaving two pilots dead.

The terrifying accident occurred as the fire truck was making its way to a United flight reporting an odor in its cabin that left flight attendants feeling sick, according to CNN.

But as the truck attempted to cross a runway, a landing Air Canada jet crashed into the vehicle.

Audio of the LaGuardia tower circulated hours after the crash, with an air traffic controller in the LaGuardia tower telling the fire truck, “Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. Stop, Truck 1, stop. Stop, Truck 1. Stop.”

A longer exchange was revealed on Monday morning, with one of the controllers heard saying, “I messed up” moments after the crash.

“Frontier 4195, I got the word that we’re going to be closed for a little while,” one official is heard saying. “Uhh, if you want to prepare to return to the ramp, let me know.”

“Yeah, we got stuff in progress [inaudible],” said another. “That wasn’t good to watch.”

“Yeah, I know. I was here,” the air traffic controller said. “I tried to reach out to them. I stopped. We were dealing with an emergency here earlier. I messed up.”

One of the voices then tried to comfort him.

“Nah, man. You did the best you could.”

The plane’s two pilots were killed as the nose of the aircraft was crushed on impact. Numerous others were injured.

LaGuardia Airport was closed as a result of the incident, with the FAA confirming that no flights would depart or arrive until at least 2 p.m. ET on Monday.

Watch above via Fox News.

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