New York’s La Guardia Airport was closed late Sunday night after an arriving Air Canada Express plane and ground vehicle collided, authorities said.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop for the airport and said there was  a “high” likelihood that the order would be extended.
A spokesperson for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, told CBS News “a Jazz Aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada was involved in an incident” on a runway in which the aircraft hit a PA firefighting vehicle “that was responding to a separate incident.”
CBS News senior transportation and national correspondent Kris Van Cleave reported that pilots of United Airlines flight 2384 aborted its takeoff when an anti-ice warning light come on. They reported an odor in the cabin and requested that firefighters come to assist. The pilots reported that flight attendants were feeling ill and declared an emergency when no gates were immediately available.
Van Cleave said the Air Canada plane, coming in from Montreal, had landed and was slowing down, going 24 mph, when it collided with a PA vehicle. He said the collision probably occurred as passengers were getting off at the back of the airliner.
The Air Canada plane suffered significant damage, Van Cleave said, adding that it was a CRJ 900 — a smaller plane with perhaps 70-90 people on board.
Air traffic controllers apparently tried to stop the vehicle, recordings he listened to revealed.
The big question, Van Cleave says, is what the communication breakdown was that allowed the vehicle to be on the runway as the plane was landing.
Scene of apparent collision at New York’s LaGuardia Airport late Sunday night of an arriving Air Canada express plane and ground vehicle on a runway. / Credit: Citizen
(Citizen)
Significant delays and cancellations are expected as the morning goes on, Van Cleave pointed out.
The National Transportation Safety Board told CBS News it received notification of the incident, and the New York Police Department’s public information bureau confirmed to CBS News that a collision had occurred.
The New York Fire Department “responded to a reported incident involving a plane and vehicle on runway,” a spokesperson told CBS News.
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