LaGuardia crash: controllers left early, WSJ reports

Two air traffic controllers left work early before a deadly collision between an Air Canada jet and a fire truck at New York's LaGuardia Airport, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The newspaper reported that the controllers clocked off about an hour before their shift was due to end, leaving the tower short-staffed before the crash that killed two pilots. It also reported that the Federal Aviation Administration is moving to fire the two controllers.

The collision happened on March 22, when surveillance footage showed the jet hitting the rescue vehicle as it crossed the runway.

An FAA spokeswoman said the agency "is committed to holding employees accountable" and would not compromise the safety or efficiency of the National Airspace System.

Investigators are still examining the accident. A preliminary report in April pointed to communication failures and a lack of proper equipment. It found that controllers cleared the fire truck crew to cross the runway while the jet was approaching, and that a later instruction to "stop stop stop" was not understood by one of the truck's two occupants as being directed at them.

Investigators also cited the absence of a transponder on the fire engine, which they said would have automatically alerted controllers that the aircraft and truck were on a collision course.

The Wall Street Journal reported that LaGuardia was handling more than twice its usual traffic when the accident happened. It said leaving early is known in the aviation industry as an "early shove" and is treated as an informal perk sometimes offered after especially taxing shifts.

The crash was LaGuardia's first fatal accident since 1992.