Recording: Air traffic controller banters about dead cat as plane flies toward disaster in NY

Recording: Controller bantered as disaster loomed

WASHINGTON — A control tower recording captured an air traffic controller bantering about a dead cat with a giggling female friend as a small plane flew toward a collision with a helicopter.

Nine people were killed in the Aug. 8 accident over the Hudson River in New York.

The Federal Aviation Administration released the recording Thursday in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from The Associated Press.

On the recording the controller at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey appears engrossed in his conversation with the woman as she describes how repulsed she was by the carcass of a cat.

There’s no indication he was aware of the danger until alerted by other controllers moments before the crash.

On the Net:

FAA’s audio: tinyurl.com/crash-audio-mp3