The airport has been closed and flights diverted after the aircraft operated by Jazz Aviation struck a firefighting truck on runway.
Published On 23 Mar 202623 Mar 2026
At least two people have been killed after an Air Canada Express flight from Montreal struck a ground vehicle while landing at New York’s LaGuardia, according to several US media outlets. The airport has been closed and flights diverted.
At least 13 other people, including 11 passengers and two first responders, were taken to hospital with injuries, according to broadcaster ABC.
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The aircraft operated by Jazz Aviation, a regional partner of Air Canada, struck a firefighting truck on Runway 4 at about 11:40pm on Sunday (03:40 GMT, Monday) as the vehicle drove to a separate incident, the Port Authority of New York said.
A preliminary passenger list showed 76 people on board the flight AC8646, including four crew members, Jazz Aviation said in a statement.
The CRJ-900 aircraft struck the vehicle on Sunday evening at a speed of about 24mph (39km/h), flight tracking website Flightradar24 said.
“The airport is currently closed to facilitate the response and allow for a thorough investigation,” the Port Authority said in a statement to the AFP news agency.
Emergency response protocols had been “immediately activated”, it said.
A Port Authority aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle lies on its side off Runway 4 after colliding with an Air Canada jet after it landed at LaGuardia airport, March 23, 2026, in New York, US [Ryan Murphy/AP Photo]
The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a ground stop for all departures to LaGuardia due to the aircraft emergency, with the airport closure in effect until 05:30 GMT. The probability of an extension was listed as high.
In a separate notice to airmen, the FAA said the airport could be shut until 18:00 GMT.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it had sent a “go team” to the scene to investigate the collision.
LaGuardia’s website showed arriving planes had been diverted to other airports or returned to their point of origin.
New York’s Emergency Management warned people to “expect cancellations, road closures, traffic delays & emergency personnel” near the major transport hub in the borough of Queens.
“Use alternate routes,” it said on X.
LaGuardia had already been suffering from flight disruptions due to poor weather, the airport said on X.
Passengers were also waiting longer to pass security due to “staffing impacts” from a federal funding lapse, it said last week.
Located in the borough of Queens, LaGuardia is New York’s third-busiest airport, serving 33.5 million passengers in 2024, according to Port Authority figures.
Deadly air crashes in the US in recent years include a collision between a passenger jet and an army helicopter near Washington, DC, in January 2025 that killed 67 people.