Chuckling, joking in control tower before NY crash
WASHINGTON — The air traffic controller banters and chuckles, engrossed in a teasing phone call with a giggling friend, unaware that two aircraft are on a collision course over New York’s Hudson River.
The audio recording of their conversation, which otherwise would have been forgotten workplace joshing, stands as a record of the moments before a small plane and a tour helicopter collided, killing nine people. The recording was released by the Federal Aviation Administration in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from The Associated Press.
The controller, who was not identified, has been placed on administrative leave along with a supervisor pending an investigation of the Aug. 8 crash.
As the controller chatted on the phone, he was unaware that disaster loomed until alerted too late by other controllers.
Amid his conversation, he can be heard directing air traffic. “Hold on real quick,” he tells his female friend at one point.
The controller and his friend, who worked at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, laughed about her finding the carcass of a cat near the airport and about her efforts to dispose of it. The controller told her he had watched the scene through binoculars from the control tower, and they joked about cooking the cat on a barbecue grill.
“Oh, my God, yeah, it was pretty bad,” she said.
“Did it smell? It couldn’t have smelled. It ain’t been there that long,” he said.
After he was unable to make radio contact with the pilot ultimately involved in the crash, the controller tells his friend: “Damn … Let me straighten this stuff out.” Then he hung up, four seconds before the collision.
Transcripts of the conversation were published previously, but the FAA turned down an initial request to release the 29-minute audio recording.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association declined to comment, but FAA and union officials have previously said it doesn’t appear the controller’s actions contributed to the accident.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the accident, has said the controller had handed off responsibility for guiding the plane to controllers at nearby Newark Liberty International Airport seven seconds before the helicopter appeared on his radar screen. The helicopter had just lifted off from a helipad on the New York side of the river.
The pilot, Steven Altman, 60, of Ambler, Pa., apparently misheard the controller when he directed Altman to contact controllers in Newark and gave him the radio frequency. NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman told a congressional hearing last month that Altman read back the wrong radio frequency to the controller but was never corrected.
Newark controllers noticed the imminent crash on their radar, but could not reach the pilot. Nor could the Teterboro controller.
“He’s lost in the hertz,” the Teterboro controller said, a note of frustration in his voice.
It took controllers a moment after the collision occurred to realize what had happened. The small plane collided with the tour helicopter, sending both aircraft hurtling into the river. All three people aboard the plane and a pilot and five Italian tourists aboard the helicopter were killed.
“Newark, Teterboro. Did you get him yet?” the Teterboro controller asked.
“Nope,” the Newark controller responded.
A few seconds later, a Newark controller said: “I think he went down in the Hudson.”
On the Net:
FAA audio recording: tinyurl.com/crash-audio-mp3
Related News
Recording: Air traffic controller banters about dead cat as plane flies toward disaster in NYOctober 8th, 2009 Recording: Controller bantered as disaster loomedWASHINGTON — A control tower recording captured an air traffic controller bantering about a dead cat with a giggling female friend as a small plane flew toward a collision with a helicopter. Nine people were killed in the Aug.
NTSB chairman: Pilot in Hudson River mid-air crash had wrong radio frequency, wasn't toldSeptember 16th, 2009 Feds: Pilot in crash had wrong radio frequencyWASHINGTON — The pilot of a plane involved in a mid-air collision over the Hudson River read back the wrong radio frequency to an air traffic controller but wasn't corrected by the controller, a federal safety official said Wednesday. National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman told a congressional committee Wednesday that shortly after the single-engine Piper took off from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, a Teterboro controller handed off the plane to nearby Newark Liberty International.
911 call: 4 victims tell each other to pray moments before Calif. runaway car crashesSeptember 11th, 2009 Police release 911 tape in deadly Calif. crashSANTEE, Calif.
Supreme Court will provide audio soon after arguments in Clinton movie campaign finance caseSeptember 4th, 2009 Court to give same-day audio in Clinton movie caseWASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will release audio tapes soon after Wednesday's argument in a case about limits on campaign spending by corporations and labor unions. The court said Friday it has agreed to a request by the C-SPAN cable network for the quick release of audio in the case that involves a movie, made by a conservative group, that was harshly critical of Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential ambitions.
NTSB: Air traffic controller didn't warn plane in Hudson midair collision of traffic aheadAugust 27th, 2009 NTSB: Controller didn't warn plane in midair crashWASHINGTON — Federal safety officials say an air traffic controller should have warned the pilot of a small plane that collided with a helicopter over the Hudson River that there were other aircraft in his path. The accident earlier this month near New York City killed nine people.
Excerpts from air traffic conversations about collision over Hudson RiverAugust 20th, 2009 Excerpts from air traffic conversationsExcerpts from draft government transcripts of conversations between the control tower of the Teterboro, N.J., airport and the pilot of a Piper plane that collided with a helicopter over the Hudson River on Aug. 8, killing nine people.
NTSB: Helicopter in Hudson River midair collision not initially visible on radarAugust 18th, 2009 New twist in Hudson River collision investigationWASHINGTON — A helicopter hit by a small plane over the Hudson River wasn't initially visible to an air traffic controller handling the plane, federal safety officials say in a revised account of the deadly collision. The statement by the National Transportation Safety Board, issued after public pressure from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, provides some vindication to the controller at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.
Union says NTSB report wrongly implies controller could have prevented mid-air collisionAugust 17th, 2009 Controllers: NTSB report on Hudson collision wrongWASHINGTON — Union leaders said Monday that federal safety officials made a mistake in a report that implied an air traffic controller could have prevented a mid-air collision over the Hudson River and demanded a retraction. National Air Traffic Controllers Association officials said the National Transportation Safety Board was wrong when it said that a controller at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey who was handling a small plane involved in the Aug.
Officials say controller chatting on phone about dead cat before deadly mid-air crashAugust 15th, 2009 Controller bantering about dead cat before crashWASHINGTON — The air traffic controller handling the small plane involved in a deadly crash with a helicopter over the Hudson River was chatting on the telephone about a dead cat at the airport and initially failed to warn the pilot of other aircraft in his path, officials say. The controller tried unsuccessfully to contact the pilot before the accident, officials said Friday, but the plane collided with a tour helicopter over the Hudson River, killing nine people.
Officials: Controller chatting on phone about dead cat failed to warn pilot in Hudson crashAugust 15th, 2009 Controller bantering on phone before crashWASHINGTON — An air traffic controller bantering on the phone about a dead cat at the airport initially failed to warn a small plane of other aircraft in its path and then tried unsuccessfully to contact the pilot, officials said Friday. Moments later, the plane collided with a tour helicopter over the Hudson River, killing nine people.
FAA says controller was on phone during crash over Hudson that killed 9August 14th, 2009 Controller was on phone during crashWASHINGTON — A personal phone call during last week's collision over New York's Hudson River has led to two air traffic controllers being removed from duty, although officials said the conversation probably had no impact on the tragedy. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement Thursday that a controller at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and his supervisor have been placed on administrative leave because the controller was involved in "apparently inappropriate conversations" at the time of the crash between a small plane and a tour helicopter that killed nine people.
FAA brings disciplinary actions against employees in connection with mid-air collision in NYCAugust 14th, 2009 FAA: 2 employees investigated in mid-air collisionWASHINGTON — Authorities have suspended an air traffic controller who was talking on the phone during last week's deadly mid-air collision over New York's Hudson River, along with a supervisor who was out of the building at the time. The Federal Aviation Administration said that while there was no reason to believe thus far that the employees' actions contributed to the accident, which killed nine people, such "conduct is unacceptable." Air-traffic controllers are expected to be alert at all times while on duty and are given regular breaks, sometimes hourly, for that reason.
NTSB says controller on phone failed to warn pilot of plane in Hudson River midair crashAugust 14th, 2009 Controller didn't warn pilot before Hudson crashWASHINGTON — An air traffic controller making a personal phone call initially failed to warn a small plane of other aircraft in its path and then tried unsuccessfully to contact the pilot, federal safety officials said Friday. Moments later, the plane collided with a tour helicopter over the Hudson River, killing nine people.
NTSB says controller on phone failed to warn pilot of plane in Hudson River crashAugust 14th, 2009 Controller failed to warn pilot in midair crashWASHINGTON — An air traffic controller making a personal phone call initially failed to warn a small plane of other aircraft in its path and then tried unsuccessfully to contact the pilot, federal safety officials said Friday. Moments later, the plane collided with an tour helicopter over the Hudson River, killing nine people.
Flight 447: Dispute between Brazil, Senegal over which nation was in control of flightJuly 3rd, 2009 Dispute deepens on who controlled Flight 447RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil's air force released a recording Friday it said proves it handed over control of Air France Flight 447 to Senegalese authorities before it crashed — but African officials denied that. The audio clip was posted on the air force's Web site after a French official investigating the June 1 crash said air traffic controllers in Dakar, Senegal, were never officially given control of the flight by Brazilian authorities.
Loading ...