Max Trescott and Rob Mark analyze the LaGuardia runway collision involving Jazz Flight 646 and an airport fire truck that was cleared to cross Runway 4 shortly before the landing regional jet arrived. The discussion focuses on the timing of the crossing clearance, repeated stop instructions, the movement of the fire truck, and the runway entrance lights that extinguished just seconds before impact. Max explains how runway status lights, runway entrance lights, anticipated separation, and ASDE-X are intended to work, and why that design logic may have failed when a moving fire truck reached the runway edge.
The episode also examines the final report on Bombardier Challenger 600 N823KD, which crashed on Interstate 75 near Naples, Florida, after both GE CF34-3B turbofan engines flamed out. The NTSB cited corrosion in the engines’ variable geometry systems, which led to near-simultaneous compressor stalls and loss of thrust.
Additional accidents include Mooney M20J N1151H near Union County Airport, Mooney M20J N205MK near Ironton, Ohio, Beech F-33A Bonanza N8032X at Minneapolis Crystal Airport, Bell 206 N409AE in Tennessee, Beech A36 Bonanza N2882W near Olympic Valley, Beech Super King Air B200GT N886DS near Sharp, Louisiana, Extra 300L N22MW near Bandera, Washington, and Globe GC-1B N2387B near Afton, Minnesota.
Route change requested by the pilot? ” I need to be off frequency for 6 seconds.” Rustling in the cockpit? ie… don’t touch that transponder code. Steep bank angles? 45000 ft per minute descent? No further communication? 15 foot deep hole in the ground from 28000 feet?
That was no accident.