WASHINGTON – The Federal Aviation Administration announced Wednesday its plan to invest $16.5 million in transponder technology for airport vehicles following a deadly March incident at LaGuardia airport in New York where an Air Canada Express aircraft collided with a fire truck.
The emergency vehicle involved in the fatal crash was not equipped with a transponder, though the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has announced plans to outfit all airfield vehicles with the technology. The FAA will begin immediately installing transponders on roughly 1,900 vehicles across 264 airports that currently have or will receive surface awareness technology systems.
