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“Hey, I’ll say it again, LaGuardia. Now that United says he needs a gate, but so now he’s declaring an emergency, but the ramp doesn’t have a gate for him.”

The Tension Kept Building on the Ground

As responders worked to manage the situation, the transcript shows preparations being made in case passengers needed to get off the plane without a gate.

At 3:19, one person says, “We can get a sand truck if you need them to get off the plane.” Just moments later came the response: “Okay, yeah, yeah, do that just in case they want to come off.”

Even then, the crew seemed to prefer waiting rather than rushing into an evacuation. The ground crew later messaged the aircraft at 3:35 to explain that the ramp lacked an available gate. The dispatcher added that they were contacting the Port Authority to find an alternative solution.

That was followed by another update at 3:43:

“And the fire trucks are over there. They’re gonna bring a stair up, just in case you guys do want to evacuate. Let me know if you do.”

The flight crew responded almost instantly, highlighting the urgent need for a resolution. At 3:48, they confirmed their preference to wait for an available gate but warned that their time was running out due to a persistent smell at the rear of the cabin.

The Final Moments Before Impact

As the minutes passed, the audio became even more striking because it captured how normal communication suddenly gave way to confusion.

At 6:25, the aircraft asked again, “2384, Do you have a gate available at this time? Otherwise, we will be probably requesting gears here [sic].”