FAA Found LGA Air-Traffic Controllers Left Work Early Before Deadly Collision

Federal aviation officials have found that two air-traffic controllers left work early before an Air Canada regional jet crashed into a firetruck at LaGuardia Airport in March.

The Federal Aviation Administration is moving to fire the two controllers, who officials determined had left about an hour before their shifts ended on March 22, people familiar with the matter said. As a result, two controllers remaining at the LaGuardia tower didn’t have backup to assist with high workloads.

The busy New York City airport was handling more than twice the usual volume of traffic the night of the accident. Two pilots died in the runway collision, and six other people—including a crew member, passengers and workers on the ground—sustained serious injuries, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Leaving early is called an “early shove,” according to current and former controllers, and is a longstanding practice in the industry. FAA officials consider it a form of timecard fraud.

The push to fire the controllers signals an aggressive response to the practice by the Trump administration. Current and former controllers say managers have often condoned their leaving before their shifts officially end, and it is seen as an informal perk after busy stretches working air traffic.

The agency has taken steps this year to terminate more than 10 controllers for alleged timecard fraud or abuse of leave policies, according to people familiar with the matter. The FAA said in April that it had about 11,000 fully certified air-traffic controllers, with 4,000 more in training.

“The vast majority of air-traffic controllers are great patriots—they show up for work, complete their full shift, and come back and do it all again,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement. “But when a small percentage of individuals take advantage of the American taxpayer, unfairly add additional work to their fellow controllers, and impact the airspace—we have no choice but to act. We will not tolerate fraud.”

The process to terminate controllers can be lengthy and result in lighter punishments or reversals, as has happened in some cases this year, people familiar with the matter said.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association said it was discussing timecard and leave fraud allegations with FAA leadership.

“What should not be ignored is the extraordinary dedication of the thousands of air-traffic controllers who report to work every day, often under extremely challenging staffing conditions, and remain focused on keeping the flying public safe,” the union said.

The FAA said it had hired more than 2,000 controllers so far this year, representing 94% of its 2026 hiring goal. The agency has sought to ramp up hiring to alleviate an air-traffic staffing shortage that has been a significant driver of travel delays.

​The practice of “early shoves” has a long history within the FAA’s air-traffic unit. Current and former controllers said managers have at times allowed controllers to leave before their shifts officially end. For instance, rather than have controllers eligible for a break spend the remaining half-hour of their shift in a break room, it would be fine to allow them to leave early.

Current and former FAA officials said the practice is problematic—controllers may be on break, but could be needed in emergencies—and technically amounts to defrauding the U.S. government.

The issue came to light in recent years after a serious close call involving a Marine helicopter used by then Vice President Kamala Harris in 2021. The FAA determined that controllers working at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, D.C., had left work early, resulting in the remaining controllers juggling more responsibilities than they were supposed to, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.

The FAA investigated the practice at Reagan National and found it was widespread, according to former FAA officials. They said the agency at the time opted against tough discipline for controllers, in part because managers condoned the early shoves.

Staffing levels at air-traffic control facilities during midnight shifts have long been a concern of the NTSB—“especially if there’s a heavy workload,” Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said at a March press conference about the accident.

She said investigators would scrutinize tower staffing following the LaGuardia crash. “We have to determine who else was in the tower and the facility and available at the time,” Homendy said.

An NTSB spokesman said the agency is still investigating the March accident. The NTSB hasn’t made final conclusions about what role, if any, tower staffing may have played in the collision. Aviation accidents often result from a series of failures, and investigators may take a year or more to determine their causes.

The crash occurred after a chaotic night of thunderstorms and disruptions at LaGuardia. A United Airlines crew twice aborted their takeoff, and then declared an emergency. A controller cleared a responding firetruck to cross a runway, on which Air Canada Express Flight 8646 had also been cleared to land.