Sean Duffy has firmly dismissed circulating speculations regarding the staffing of the LaGuardia Airport control tower during a recent tragic incident. The transportation secretary addressed these concerns on Monday, following the collision between an Air Canada plane and a fire truck on a runway, which resulted in the deaths of both the pilot and copilot and left several others injured.

Speaking to the media, Duffy emphasized that LaGuardia Airport is adequately staffed, despite experiencing a shortage of air traffic controllers. He revealed that the airport currently employs 33 certified controllers, though the target is to increase this number to 37. Importantly, he clarified that contrary to some reports, more than one controller was present on duty at the time of the accident.

This clarification came in response to an earlier report by The New York Post, which suggested there was only a single controller in the tower during the incident. Duffy addressed this misinformation during a press conference, stating, “I did want to clarify that I’ve heard the rumor that there was only one controller in the tower and that’s not accurate.”

By setting the record straight, Duffy aims to quell any misconceptions about the airport’s operational capabilities and reassure the public regarding the professionalism and preparedness of the staff at LaGuardia.

‘I did want to clarify that I’ve heard the rumor that there was only one controller in the tower and that’s not accurate,’ he said in a press conference. 

Jennifer Homendy, the chairwoman of the NTSB, said later that they did not yet have verified information on how many people were working in the tower at the time, promising to have it by Tuesday. 

The secretary – who spoke alongside New York’s Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul and socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani – said the crash was a reminder to always follow safety precautions when flying.

‘When you’re traveling by air, wear your seatbelt. You see the videos of the air crash,’ he added, referring to the runway collision. 

‘Wear your seatbelt when you’re on the airplane. As you’ve seen from last night, they do save lives.’

Sean Duffy quashed a rumor that only one person was working in the LaGuardia Airport control tower when an Air Canada plane collided with a fire truck as it crossed a runway at LaGuardia

The transportation secretary spoke Monday to clarify many of the questions about the crash, which killed both the pilot and copilot and injured several others late on Sunday night 

Duffy added that further information was pending an investigation by the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB). 

‘I can´t give specifics on what went wrong,’ Duffy said, deferring to the NTSB, which will be holding a separate news conference later on Monday. 

Canada also sent a team of investigators.

One of the two pilots killed in the LaGuardia Air Canada crash has been identified as 30-year-old Antoine Forest.

A flight attendant who was hurled 330 feet from the aircraft on Sunday night and survived has also been named as authorities investigate how the plane with 72 passengers on board smashed into a fire truck on the runway at 130mph.

Images from the scene showed the aircraft crumpled on the tarmac after the Montreal flight collided with the airport vehicle at 11.40pm on Sunday.

Air traffic control audio revealed the truck had been cleared to cross the runway for an unrelated issue before controllers urgently ordered it to ‘stop, stop, stop’ moments before impact.

Flight attendant Solange Tremblay survived the impact despite being thrown from the plane. Her daughter, Sarah Lépine, told TVA Nouvelles that Tremblay suffered a broken leg requiring surgery but no other serious injuries.

‘It’s nothing short of a miracle,’ Lépine said, noting her mother had been strapped into her jump seat during the crash.

Duffy said LaGuardia is ‘well-staffed’ but faces a shortage of controllers. He said there are 33 certified controllers but the goal is to have 37. However, more than one controller was on duty at the time of the accident, he noted, disputing rumors which had said otherwise 

A Port Authority fire truck lays on its side just off the runway at LaGuardia Airport on Monday

Speaking to reporters in Florida on Monday morning in response to the collision, President Trump said: ‘They made a mistake. It’s a dangerous business. That’s terrible.’

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement that the accident was ‘deeply saddening.’ 

LaGuardia was shut down until the early afternoon due to the crash, forcing thousands of passengers to scramble while airports across the country are facing severe delays due to the Department of Homeland Security shutdown.

The Port Authority identified the two people in the fire truck as Sgt. Michael Orsillo and Officer Adrian Baez. 

They suffered injuries not believed to be life-threatening, Garcia said. 

One was expected to be released Monday while the other will stay in the hospital for observation, she added.

The fire truck was traveling across the runway to respond to a United Airlines flight, whose pilot had reported ‘an issue with odor,’ said Garcia.

It was the first fatal crash at LaGuardia in 34 years, Garcia said.

There were 72 passengers and four crew members aboard the Jazz Aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada, according to the airline. 

The flight originated at Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.

Hours after the crash, the plane remained on the runway with its crumpled nose tilted upward.

An Air Canada Jet sits on the runway at LaGuardia Airport Monday after colliding with a Port Authority aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle in New York

The air traffic controller tried to warn the fire truck.

‘Stop, stop, stop, Truck 1. Stop, stop, stop,’ the transmission says. ‘Stop, Truck 1.’ The controller can then be heard frantically diverting an incoming aircraft from landing.

Air traffic controllers are not impacted by the partial government shutdown that has caused long delays at airport security checkpoints in recent days. 

They have been affected by past shutdowns. The FAA has been chronically short on air traffic controllers for years.

Former FAA air traffic control chief Mike McCormick said LaGuardia has not had perennial staffing problems, but the tower would have been lightly staffed during the overnight shift at the time of the crash.

LaGuardia is one of 35 major US airports with an advanced surface surveillance system designed to help keep track of planes and vehicles crossing the airport.

An alarm heard in the background of the air traffic control audio was likely from the system and would have alerted the tower to the potential collision, McCormick said.

‘It´s an aid in a situation like this,’ he said, but the system doesn´t know if someone has given clearance for a vehicle to cross a runway.

FAA statistics show there were 1,636 runway incursions last year.

As the search for Nancy Guthrie approaches the two-month mark, the sheriff heading the investigation is issuing a direct message to those who might be involved, while her family continues to urge the public to focus on the case.

In a recent conversation with News 4 Tucson, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos stood by his department’s approach to the investigation. Despite the ongoing mystery, he expressed confidence in the decisions made at the outset of the case.

“Honestly, I stand by my team and their hard work,” Nanos stated. “I don’t regret the timing of releasing the crime scene or any related decisions.”

Guthrie, aged 84, and the mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, vanished on the night of January 31 after having dinner with her family. She was reported missing on February 1 when she didn’t arrive at church.

A source with knowledge of the situation informed Fox News Digital that two images of the suspect from the Nancy Guthrie doorbell video were captured on separate occasions.

Authorities have released doorbell camera images showing a masked suspect outside her Catalina Foothills home the night she vanished. Investigators say they continue to rely heavily on digital evidence, including cellphone data, surveillance video and other forensic analysis, but have not announced any arrests.

When asked what he would say to the person or people behind Guthrie’s disappearance, Nanos issued a direct appeal.

“Just give her up. Let her go,” he said. “Take her to a clinic, a hospital. Drop her off. Just let her go.”

As investigators continue their work, Guthrie’s family is urging the public to take a fresh look at anything that could help break the case.

“We desperately ask this community for renewed attention to our mom’s case,” the family wrote in an Instagram post shared over the weekend. “Please consult camera footage, journal notes, text messages, observations, or conversations that in retrospect may hold significance.”

“No detail is too small. It may be the key.”

The FBI released new surveillance footage of the suspect in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie on February 1, 2026. (X/ @FBIDirectorPatel)

The family pointed to several critical timelines, including the evening of Jan. 31, the early morning hours of Feb. 1 and the late evening of Jan. 11, suggesting previously released video of a masked man at Guthrie’s doorstep weeks before her disappearance could be significant.

“We continue to believe it is Tucsonans, and the greater Southern Arizona community, that hold the key to finding resolution in this case,” the statement said. “Someone knows something. It’s possible a member of this community has information that they do not even realize is significant.”

A Ring camera image taken from video shows a vehicle driving south on Camino Real at 2:36 a.m. on Feb. 1, the morning Nancy Guthrie is believed to have been abducted from a home nearby in the Catalina Foothills of Tucson, Arizona. (Courtesy of Elias and Danielle Stratigouleas)

“Someone knows something,” the family wrote. “It’s possible a member of this community has information that they do not even realize is significant.”

News 4 Tucson’s special also highlighted the deep toll Guthrie’s disappearance has taken on Tucson, where colleagues, neighbors and strangers alike have rallied around her family with vigils, tips, flowers and handwritten messages of hope.

Former colleagues described Guthrie as a quiet but powerful force in southern Arizona, someone whose work left a lasting mark on public health, education and journalism. Jacqueline Sharkey, a former University of Arizona professor who worked with Guthrie for decades, remembered her as “this quiet leader who was so effective without ever working at it,” according to the outlet.

Others recalled Guthrie’s role in helping save the poison information center at the University of Arizona, gathering more than 20,000 signatures before the internet era to keep the program alive — work that one colleague said went on to benefit thousands of Arizonans.

Savannah Guthrie hugs Dylan Dreyer during a visit to the Today show at Rockefeller Plaza in New York on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Dave Cuillier, who worked with Guthrie on the journalism school’s advisory council, called her “a huge champion of journalism and the University of Arizona” and said “she had a quiet power,” according to News 4 Tucson.

The special also showed how support for Guthrie has spread well beyond her neighborhood.

One moment highlighted Melanie, who began making yellow ribbons of hope to keep attention on the case — something she and a friend had previously done for other missing women, including Laci Peterson and Natalee Holloway. This time, compelled by Guthrie’s story, she began making them again and sending them to Tucson.

The ribbons are now being worn by employees at El Charro, the Tucson restaurant where Guthrie had lunch with her daughters just months before her disappearance.

Ray Flores, president of Flores Concepts, said the case hit hard after staff realized “it wasn’t just a simple lost person issue.” Though he said he did not know Nancy personally, he recalled seeing the closeness between Guthrie and her daughters during that visit and said the pain has been felt across the city.

“You could tell they were a very loving family,” Flores said, according to News 4 Tucson. “Whenever you have that kind of pain hit, it affects you because you can feel it in your own community and your own heart.”

El Charro workers have embraced the ribbon campaign as a way to keep awareness alive as the weeks drag on.

“We’re still supporting them, and we’re still thinking about them every single day,” one employee said.

Beyond the ribbons and tributes, the special showed how Guthrie’s disappearance has left a lasting mark on her own neighborhood.

Annie Guthrie, her husband Tommaso Cioni, and Savannah Guthrie at their missing mother Nancy Guthrie’s home on Monday, March 2, in Tucson, Arizona. (Fox News)

At the same time, neighbors in the Catalina Foothills have quietly organized their own efforts — gathering surveillance footage, cross-referencing video from nearby homes and passing potentially useful material on to law enforcement.

One neighbor told the station the group’s goal is simple: to help investigators by being “targeted and useful.”

Residents say they are also checking in more often, taking extra security measures and even considering reviving a neighborhood watch.

The special described the case as “a community united with one plea” — bring her home.

That support has only deepened as the investigation has stretched on. Outside Guthrie’s home, a growing shrine of flowers, candles and handwritten notes has become a symbol of the community’s heartbreak and resolve. Savannah Guthrie and family members returned to the site earlier this month, visibly emotional as they took in the tributes left behind.

In their latest message, the family made clear that their focus remains singular.

“We miss our mom with every breath, and we cannot be in peace until she is home,” they wrote. “We cannot grieve. We can only ache and wonder.”

A reward of more than $1 million is being offered for information leading to Guthrie’s recovery.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip through law enforcement.

Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.

To bolster their case, prosecutors also introduced evidence from Mericle’s phone, highlighting her internet search activity. Notably, they revealed that she had searched for information about the Hall County jail approximately three hours before making her first 911 call on the night of the shooting. The defense, however, pointed out that these searches were later deleted, as indicated in the report.

Cross-examination lasts six hours

New man enters the chat

Directed verdict