Port Authority adds transponders at Newark

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said Tuesday it will install transponders on fire trucks and other airfield vehicles at Newark, LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports. (cbsnews.com) (gothamist.com) The change follows the March 22, 2026 collision at LaGuardia, when Air Canada Flight 8646 struck Rescue 35 while landing on Runway 4. The National Transportation Safety Board said the captain and first officer were killed. (ntsb.gov) (data.ntsb.gov) The preliminary report says 39 people were taken to hospitals, including six with serious injuries, after the CRJ-900 hit the Oshkosh Striker 1500 aircraft rescue and firefighting truck. (ntsb.gov) (data.ntsb.gov) A transponder is a device that broadcasts a vehicle’s position, so controllers can see it more precisely on airport surface-monitoring systems. CBS New York reported the Port Authority began testing the devices at Newark Liberty in December 2025. (faa.gov) (cbsnews.com) Federal investigators found the LaGuardia fire truck did not have a transponder. Gothamist reported the agency said the added devices would give controllers another layer of visibility on top of existing ground-movement tracking. (gothamist.com) (cbsnews.com) The Federal Aviation Administration says its Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model X, or ASDE-X, tracks aircraft and vehicles on runways and taxiways and warns controllers about possible conflicts. FAA guidance says the system uses multiple sensors and can work with transponder data to sharpen location tracking. (faa.gov 1) (faa.gov 2) CBS New York reported an FAA alert issued in May 2025 encouraged airports to use transponders on ground vehicles. The Port Authority said it is now extending that technology across its three biggest commercial airports. (cbsnews.com) The National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation is still preliminary, and a final report is expected later. The immediate change is that trucks responding on New York-area airfields will start broadcasting their location instead of relying on radio calls alone. (ntsb.gov) (gothamist.com)