NEW YORK. — Two people died and others suffered serious injuries when a regional flight of Air Canada crashed Sunday night with a fire truck on the tarmac at New York’s LaGuardia Airport while landing, authorities said.
He pilot and co-pilot died in the collision, which crushed the nose of the plane. In addition, around 40 passengers and crew were taken to hospitals, some with serious injuries. The majority were discharged after receiving care.
Two Port Authority employees who were riding on the fire truck also suffered injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening, said Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.
The pilot and co-pilot were based in Canada, Garcia said during a news conference.
He fire truck was crossing the track to respond to a separate incident aboard a United Airlines flight, whose pilot had reported “an odor problem,” said Garcia, who referred additional questions about the sequence of events leading up to the crash to the NTSB.
There was 72 passengers and four members of the crew aboard the plane, a Jazz Aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada, according to a statement from the airline. The flight had departed from Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, the main airport serving Montreal.
Photos and videos from the scene showed extensive damage to the front of the aircraft, with cables and debris hanging from a mangled cockpit. Nearby, a damaged emergency vehicle lay on its side.
Ladders had been brought to evacuate passengers from the aircraft through the emergency exits of the plane, a Bombardier CRJ. The impact left the plane tilted upward on its crushed nose.
In the moments before the crash, an air traffic controller could be heard on a radio transmission giving permission for a vehicle to cross part of the runway, and then trying to stop it.
“Stop, Truck 1. Stop,” the transmission says. The controller can then be heard frantically diverting an incoming aircraft from landing.
BREAKING NEWS: Video emerges apparently showing Air Canada jet collision with firetruck at LaGuardia Airport that resulted in 2 deaths. https://t.co/jeQ5SGy0Wd#News12NY #BreakingNews pic.twitter.com/gR6ksEj9yf
— News 12 New York (@News12) March 23, 2026
Air traffic controllers are not affected by the partial government shutdown that has caused long delays at airport security checkpoints in recent days. They have been affected by previous closures.
As passengers filed out in the dark early Monday, some described arriving at LaGuardia hours before their flight, hoping to avoid lines.
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