The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it will equip its airport vehicles with transponders capable of transmitting their position to air traffic controllers following the fatal March collision between an Air Canada Express regional jet and a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.
The agency will invest $16.5 million to install Vehicle Movement Area Transmitters (VMATs) on approximately 1,900 vehicles operating at 264 airports equipped with or preparing to receive surface surveillance systems.
The move follows the March 22 accident at LaGuardia, where an Air Canada Express aircraft struck an airport rescue and firefighting vehicle after landing. According to investigators, the truck did not carry a transponder capable of transmitting its position to the airport’s ground surveillance system.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board later said LaGuardia’s surveillance system failed to generate an alert warning that the vehicle was approaching the runway.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the technology is intended to reduce the risk of runway incursions and improve controller awareness on taxiways and runways.
Vehicles equipped with VMAT transponders appear on controllers’ displays with identification and callsign information, while unequipped vehicles are shown only as unidentified symbols.
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The FAA said airports may also use federal grant money to install similar equipment on their own vehicles and encouraged airlines and ground operators to adopt the technology. More than 50 airports have already expressed interest, according to the agency.
The project will be funded through the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” the large infrastructure and transportation package backed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
