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Did the flight captain take control to try to avoid a collision?
A jet collided with a fire truck at LaGuardia airport on Monday, killing both pilots. Aaron Murphy is a Canadian pilot and flight instructor. From inside a flight simulator, Murphy breaks down the conditions the pilots faced — and what they may have seen.
The NTSB briefing gave us a clue about what might have happened inside the cockpit immediately after the plane touched down.
It relates to the captain taking control of the airliner two seconds after landing, and six seconds before the collision with the fire truck.
On any airline flight deck, there is always a pilot flying and a pilot not flying. It is normal for airline pilots to switch between the individual journeys of a multi-leg workday.
In this case, First Officer Mackenzie Gunther was flying into LaGuardia Airport.
The NTSB’s preliminary listen of the cockpit voice recorder indicates that almost immediately after touchdown, Capt. Antoine Forest took what is known as “positive control” of the aircraft.
It is possible this was a normal procedure. But it is also possible this was in response to the impending disaster.
While passengers on board the flight have reported what seemed like heavier than usual braking, there is a key question about steering. The nose wheel, which steers an aircraft once on the ground, is controlled from the cockpit using what’s known as the tiller.
On the CRJ-900 aircraft there is only one tiller and it is located adjacent to the left seat, which is typically occupied by the captain.
It is possible Forest saw the fire truck, took control and attempted to steer the plane to the right, away from the truck that entered the runway from the left.
Only the NTSB investigation can determine if that is indeed what occurred.
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