By David Shepardson and Doyinsola Oladipo
WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is moving to fire two air traffic controllers at New York’s LaGuardia airport who are believed to have left early before an Air Canada plane collided with a fire truck on March 22, killing both pilots, sources told Reuters.
The crash renewed scrutiny of chronic staffing shortages and working practices in U.S. air traffic control, with investigators examining whether adequate staffing was in place when the accident occurred.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association said it is actively discussing these allegations with FAA leadership, declining to comment further. The FAA said it “is committed to holding employees accountable, and we will not compromise the safety or efficiency of the National Airspace System.”
Officials told Reuters the two FAA employees were supposed to be on duty when the accident occurred but had left the facility.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Thursday most controllers do a good job. “But when a small percentage of individuals take advantage of the American taxpayer, unfairly add additional work to their fellow controllers, and impact the airspace — we have no choice but to act,” Duffy said. “We will not tolerate fraud, and we are taking appropriate action to hold folks accountable and prevent unlawful practices from disrupting the traveling public.”
Several controllers interviewed by Reuters described the workload that night as busy and said other controllers would typically be brought in or stay on past their normal shift end time to manage the heavier-than-scheduled number of flights.
One controller told Reuters that there has been a push nationwide by the FAA to crack down on employees leaving on break at the end of their shift and not coming back.
Another controller said the FAA is cracking down on “early shoves,” an industry term for controllers leaving before the end of their scheduled shift after completing their assigned duties. A third controller told Reuters that allowing employees to leave shortly before their scheduled end times has been common practice at many facilities for years.
The Wall Street Journal reported the FAA’s planned firings earlier.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese and Sanjeev Miglani)
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