Air Canada Plane Collides with Fire Truck at LaGuardia Airport, Killing 2

Two pilots died and dozens were injured Monday night when an Air Canada regional jet collided with a Port Authority fire truck on the runway at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, officials said. The crash, which occurred shortly after 11:30 p.m. Sunday, forced the airport to close for several hours and prompted investigations by both U.S. And Canadian authorities.

The aircraft, Air Canada Flight 8646 operated by Jazz Aviation, had arrived from Montreal carrying 72 passengers and four crew members, according to statements from Air Canada and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The plane struck a rescue-and-firefighting vehicle that had been responding to a separate incident involving a United Airlines flight, Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia told reporters.

According to audio recordings from LiveATC.com, a Port Authority vehicle requested permission to cross the runway just moments before the collision. A controller initially granted permission, then urgently ordered the vehicle to stop less than 10 seconds later. The Air Canada jet impacted the truck shortly after. FlightRadar24 data indicated the Air Canada plane was traveling between 93 and 105 mph at the time of impact.

The pilots were pronounced dead at the scene. Two Port Authority police officers in the fire truck sustained injuries, with one expected to be hospitalized overnight for observation, Garcia said. At least 43 people were transported to local hospitals, including passengers and crew members, some with serious injuries. A flight attendant was reportedly found outside the aircraft, still secured to her seat, suffering multiple fractures, according to a source within the New York Police Department.

The collision occurred after United Airlines Flight 2384, bound for Chicago, aborted its takeoff due to a warning light and reported an odor in the cabin, prompting the dispatch of the Port Authority fire truck. The Air Canada flight was cleared to land approximately three minutes before the impact.

LaGuardia Airport reopened at 2 p.m. Monday, but Runway 4 will remain closed until 7 a.m. Friday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Hundreds of flights were canceled as a result of the closure. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are investigating the incident, and investigators are examining the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, recovered from the wreckage.

The FAA Administrator, Bryan Bedford, stated the pilots were “young men at the beginning of their careers.” One of the pilots has been identified as Antoine Forest, a resident of Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec, according to the Toronto Star.

The incident comes amid a partial federal government shutdown that has impacted staffing levels at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), leading to longer wait times at airports across the country. While air traffic controllers are considered essential personnel and continue to work during the shutdown, the shutdown initially slowed the arrival of specialists to the crash site, according to The New York Times.

In a statement, the FAA said it is cooperating fully with the NTSB investigation. The NTSB chairwoman, Jennifer Homendy, stated that investigators are working to determine if the airport’s surface detection equipment (ASDE-X) detected the fire truck prior to the collision. The investigation is expected to take months, potentially over a year, to determine the cause of the crash.