EASTHAMPTON, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) -- A local expert with firsthand experience in the control tower is weighing in on what may have gone wrong at LaGuardia Monday morning.

Former air traffic controller Art Lustenberger has seen it all; from the Air Force to the FAA, to work at Bradley and Barnes. He says that emergencies on the ground at airports are not uncommon, but it’s the air traffic controller’s job to make sure that no vehicle is in the same place at the same time as another vehicle. That includes emergency vehicles.

Lustenberger explains that at any tower or airport, the ground controller handles any and all vehicles on the ground, and the tower controller handles all the aircraft landing and departing on the runways. They have to be in constant communication. That means that the ground controller shouldn’t be able to send anyone across the runway without the tower controller’s permission. However, there is room for human error.

“You can’t erase human error from anything...Well, communication is key in this occupation. And sometimes you hear things a little differently. You mishear things. Sometimes you hear things but think you hear something different. And misinterpreted what they said, or you just forget and do something, because they’re responding to an emergency,” Lustenberger tells Western Mass News.

The former air traffic controller also says that in these days and times with air traffic controller shortages, you don’t know if there’s only one person working on the tower, which would mean the worker would be handling the ground traffic, the air traffic, and everything else involved.

However, now that this crash has occurred, an investigation is bound to follow.

On Western Mass News @ 6, Lustenberger will explain what goes into those investigations, and how long they tend to take.

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