[metalliqaz]

Maybe. Lets see what the NTSB recommendations say.

However despite the downvotes I still haven't seen evidence that they were running understaffed at that moment.

What I do know is that the developing emergency on the tarmac due to an apparently hazardous smell in another plane is likely the cause of the confusion that led to this incident. That's a trigger that could have been exacerbated by fatigue but we don't have any evidence of that yet.

[RankingMember]

> I still haven't seen evidence that they were running understaffed at that moment.

I think the disagreement you see is based on the definition of what "understaffed" means. Having one ATC to do ground and air control simultaneously seems like an under-staffing situation to begin with, regardless of whether it's a common practice.

[thmsths]

There is also the angle of: even if there is an appropriate amount of controllers in the tower at a given time, how they do it can also hint at the issue. Being an ATC is a taxing job, mandatory overtime and 60 hours work weeks screams understaffing to me.

[pc86]

It is possible for ATC to be understaffed as a profession, LGA to be understaffed as an airport, individual controllers to be overworked, and for it to be 100% reasonable to have a single controller at LGA in the middle of the night.

[adrr]

Its weird that there strict laws that limit pilot hours to under 40 hours a week but no laws that restrict number of hours ATC works.

[mmooss]

> Having one ATC to do ground and air control simultaneously seems like an under-staffing situation to begin with

Do we have evidence that one controller did all ground and air? The only evidence I've seen was the NY Times said that, according to a source, two controllers were working and two more were in the building.

In situations like this there is as lot of disinformation. The best thing to do is not add to it - a pile of bad information is not improved by piling more on. The best thing is to patiently find reliable info and stick to it.

[RankingMember]

That one controller was handling both ground and air is still a bit of a tell that there was some short-handedness afoot, though, by my eye.

> The best thing is to patiently find reliable info and stick to it.

No disagreement here

[mmooss]

> That one controller was handling both ground and air ...

Why do you (or why does anyone) think that? My point in the GP was, I have yet to see evidence that there was only one controller, and I have seen evidence that there were two.

[RankingMember]

Because in the ATC recording you hear him directing both

[mmooss]

I get it now. That's of interest, definitely, but I wouldn't conclude it was universally true - that the one controller did both for everyone.

[cyberax]

You can listen to the ATC recordings before and after the accident.

[mmooss]

Does someone say there is only one controller working? Just because that particular recording has only one controller doesn't mean nobody else is working.

[cyberax]

You can hear him directing ground and air traffic.

[murat124]

SPOF still applies here. You don't need evidence of fatigue or anything. You have only 1 of anything, you run the risk of ending up having nothing.

[ryanmcbride]

At your job how many people are working at any given time and how many lives are you responsible for at any given moment?