Deceitful omission from TFA: the warning lights which the firefighter admits seeing override any tower authorization. Omitting this leaves a reader with several incorrect impressions:
INCORRECT: The truck was cleared to cross the runway.
CORRECT: The truck was forbidden to cross the runway due to the active conflict lights.
INCORRECT: Airport safety systems failed.
CORRECT: The only safety system relevant to the crash is the one which would actually alert the truck not to enter the runway, not the one that would alert the controller after the incursion happened (after all, the controller realized immediately what had happened). That system was, by the firefighters' own admission, working perfectly.
INCORRECT: The fault lies mostly with the controller.
CORRECT: While the controller made a bad error which contributed significantly to the accident, nevertheless, the proximal cause of the accident was the truck driver's failure to obey the mandatory direction given by the fully functioning runway safety system.
Deceitful omission from TFA: the warning lights which the firefighter admits seeing override any tower authorization. Omitting this leaves a reader with several incorrect impressions:
INCORRECT: The truck was cleared to cross the runway.
CORRECT: The truck was forbidden to cross the runway due to the active conflict lights.
INCORRECT: Airport safety systems failed.
CORRECT: The only safety system relevant to the crash is the one which would actually alert the truck not to enter the runway, not the one that would alert the controller after the incursion happened (after all, the controller realized immediately what had happened). That system was, by the firefighters' own admission, working perfectly.
INCORRECT: The fault lies mostly with the controller.
CORRECT: While the controller made a bad error which contributed significantly to the accident, nevertheless, the proximal cause of the accident was the truck driver's failure to obey the mandatory direction given by the fully functioning runway safety system.