The NTSB is racing to investigate a deadly LaGuardia crash, but their key specialist spent three hours stuck in a TSA line first

A key National Transportation Safety Board investigator was stuck in a TSA security line for three hours before the agency had to step in and “beg” for her to be let through. The delay came as investigators were rushing to the scene of a deadly runway crash at LaGuardia Airport.

The crash happened late Sunday evening when an Air Canada plane, after landing at LaGuardia, collided with a Port Authority fire truck that was crossing the runway. The fire truck was responding to a United flight that had reported an odor in its cabin. Both Air Canada pilots were killed, and dozens more were sent to the hospital. LaGuardia Airport was shut down following the incident and was expected to remain closed through Tuesday afternoon.

Jennifer Homendy, the NTSB chair, held a press conference to provide updates on the investigation. According to Mediaite, she said some of her team began arriving around 3:10 AM, but others were still on their way even as she spoke. She acknowledged the many unanswered questions, noting the added difficulty caused by the ongoing DHS shutdown.

The TSA delays and a stretched aviation system point to deeper, systemic problems

“We have DHS that is shut down, and we have long TSA lines,” Homendy said. She then described the specific problem with their air traffic control specialist: “Our air traffic control specialist, who was in line with TSA for three hours, until we called, in Houston, to beg, to see if we can get her through, so we can get her here. So it’s been a really big challenge to get the entire team here, and they’re still arriving as we speak.”

Aviation correspondent Pete Muntean described the situation as “kind of symptomatic of an aviation system that’s really bursting at the seams.” He noted that while the TSA funding issues were not directly connected to the crash, they were “having an impact on aviation as a whole,” including causing passengers to miss flights and now slowing down a critical federal investigation. 

These long security lines have already been causing serious frustration among airport travelers in recent months. Muntean also said he was shocked by Homendy’s admission that investigators had to “beg” to get their key specialist through security after a three-hour wait. He also brought up new reports from anonymous pilots who warned that LaGuardia had become so crowded and over capacity that they feared it could become “the next DCA.”

That reference was to the January 2025 crash at Reagan National Airport, where an American Airlines flight collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter, killing everyone on both aircraft. Airport disruptions have been affecting travelers across the board, as seen when a traveler was caught in an unexpected flight situation heading into New York just before a major snowstorm.

“There’s some really, really key telltales here,” Muntean said, stressing how serious the situation had become. Drawing on years of covering near-collisions, he noted a troubling change: “It was very interesting that we were reporting on collisions that did not happen. Now we’re reporting on collisions that are happening. It’s a very bad dream.”