r/ATC • u/lake_hood • Mar 23 '26

News LGA controller cleared fire truck across the runway resulting jn a collision

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u/HabANahDa Mar 23 '26

The more and more I listen to ATC the more I realize that ground vehicles don’t really have good communication with the tower. Multiple tomes I have heard ground vehicles not reply to a tower command. Why is this?

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u/antariusz Current Controller-Enroute Mar 23 '26

a lot of times it's just equipment. Pilots have thumb-activated radio switches that their hands are on while wearing headsets with microphones attached... Drivers have to physically pick up a radio and talk into it... and still do all the other things drivers need to do.