Just before an Air Canada jet collided with an airport fire truck, air traffic controllers at New York’s LaGuardia Airport were juggling a developing late night emergency on the runway.
A United Airlines flight had twice aborted takeoff and reported an odor coming from the back of the plane. But with no gate immediately available, the pilot and controllers went back and forth over the radio as controllers tried to reach the airline and find a safe spot to put the plane. Audio recordings captured the chaotic conversation as the cockpit conveyed growing urgency.
