Could a simple transponder have prevented Sunday's tragedy at LaGuardia, and is the technology being used in Chicago?
A jetliner and a fire truck end up on a collision course because the truck didn't have a working transponder. a tracking device that federal investigators now say would have triggered alarms of an impending crash.
A jetliner and a fire truck end up on a collision course because the truck didn't have a working transponder... a tracking device that federal investigators now say would have triggered alarms of an impending crash. Why not? And what about Chicago?Could a simple transponder have prevented Sunday’s tragedy at La Guardia, and is the technology being used in Chicago? Chuck Goudie has more details tonight. Federal investigators back-timed the crash and have now determined that there were “20 Seconds to Impact” from the moment a fire truck was given permission to cross a runway that an Air Canada Express jet had just landed on. But now we also know that the New York fire truck and other ground vehicles at LaGuardia were not equipped with transponders that would have tracked their position and sounded an alarm-possibly preventing Sunday's deadly crash.The cockpit crew piloting Air Canada flight 8646 t-boned a New York fire truck that had been cleared to cross the very same runway. Unlike the Canada Air regional jet, the fire truck did not have a transponder that would have tracked it's movements and triggered an alarm in the control tower to let air traffic controllers know there was a crash in the making. “You have to have information on ground movements,” said National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Harmody. “Whether that's aircraft or vehicles moving on the airport, in taxiways, on runways, they should have all the information. This is 2026." The Air Canada plane involved in the LaGuardia accident flew in and out of Chicago O'Hare nine times the past three months according to flight records. At O'Hare, aviation authorities have ordered fire trucks and other ground vehicles to be outfitted with transponders, according to a report obtained Tuesday by the NBC Chicago investigative team. Unlike LaGuardia-where federal officials say airport ground vehicles including fire trucks are not equipped with transponder trackers-the O'Hare airfield manual dated four months ago, states:The report maps out high-risk safety areas where ground vehicles are prohibited without transponders. However, there is a provision for vehicles without transponders to coordinate access with airfield operations officials. “Air traffic controllers should know what's in you know before them, whether it's on airport surface or in the airspace,” NTSB’s Harmody emphasized on Tuesday. “They should have that information to ensure safety." With only 20 seconds to impact between a jetliner and a crossing firetruck, it's impossible to know whether a transponder-equipped vehicle could have prevented Sunday's fatal crash in New York. However, when the final NTSB report is written on that LaGuardia accident, air safety experts say a recommendation is likely for mandatory ground vehicle transponders.
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