‘Some Big Questions Here’: CNN’s Aviation Expert Says a Comms Review of LaGuardia Crash Will Be Crucial

CNN’s aviation expert Pete Muntean said on Monday that the crash between an Air Canada flight and an airport firetruck on New York’s LaGuardia tarmac that killed two pilots and left nine hospitalized has left “some big questions” about a breakdown in communications.

Muntean appeared on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, where he said it was “very clear” that the crash “occurred at very high speed.”

“This Air Canada flight operated by Jazz Air Aviation had just touched down on runway four there at LaGuardia — that’s one of the main runways there — and was still decelerating when this collision occurred at…between 115 and 90 knots. So, that’s the unit used, the nautical unit used in aviation, meaning this crash occurred between 130 and 100 miles an hour. You have to think of this like the force you would see in a T-bone collision that you would see on the highway,” said Muntean.

Audio of the incident revealed an  air traffic controller  telling the fire truck, “Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. Stop, Truck 1, stop. Stop, Truck 1. Stop.”

A longer exchange heard one of the controllers saying, “I messed up” moments after the crash.

“Important to remember here that this fire truck was responding to another incident on the airport involving a United Airlines flight that had to abort its takeoff twice,” Muntean said, continuing:

Some big questions here about the communications where the actual breakdown occurred. We know, even from the investigation of the January 29th, 2025, mid-air collision, only a few paces from here at Reagan National Airport, that radio transmissions can be imperfect. Pilots can do what’s called “stepping on one another,” where they’re both transmitting at the same time, making transmissions and radio transmissions garbled and unintelligible. And so, that can be something that is at play here.

Also, of course, the fatigue of the air traffic controllers. This occurred very late at night. And we know air traffic controllers are really stretched to the limit. Many working six day weeks of ten hour shifts, mandatory overtime because of a years-long nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers.

Muntean added that LaGuardia was expected to be closed until at least 2 p.m. as authorities carry out their investigation.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

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