RPT: 2 controllers left early night of LaGuardia crash

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is moving to fire two air traffic controllers who left their shifts early on the night of the deadly March 22 runway collision at LaGuardia Airport, according to various reporting. The incident occurred just before midnight when an incoming Air Canada Express flight collided with a Port Authority fire truck crossing the runway, killing both pilots and injuring nearly 40 people. Investigators revealed that the early departures left the tower severely understaffed, forcing a single controller to dangerously combine both air and ground traffic control duties while the only other controller on duty was distracted by a separate aircraft emergency. Government sources to The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets said the FAA is targeting the controllers for termination on the grounds of timecard fraud, a crackdown that follows earlier National Transportation Safety Board findings that the Port Authority vehicle also lacked a mandatory location transponder to trigger control tower alarms. The Foundation for Aviation Safety's Randy Klatt joins LiveNOW's Alexandra Goldberg to discuss these latest developments.