An Air Canada jet collided with a fire truck while landing at New York’s LaGuardia airport late Sunday evening, killing two pilots and injuring dozens of passengers, officials said. The crash damaged the aircraft’s nose and prompted LaGuardia to shut down Monday morning, leading air traffic to be diverted.
The pilot and copilot of the Air Canada plane were killed, and 41 passengers and crew members, some with serious injuries, were taken to local hospitals. Of those injured, 32 have since been released, Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said Monday morning.
Two of the injured were Port Authority employees who were inside the fire truck, according to Garcia. Their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. The Air Canada plane, operated by Jazz Aviation, carried 72 passengers and 4 crew members.
A damaged Port Authority fire truck sits near the runway after colliding with an Air Canada Express CRJ-900 at LaGuardia Airport in New York, on March 23.
(Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)
“The airport will remain closed until at least 2 p.m. Monday to allow for a thorough investigation,” the Port Authority said in a statement.
The fire truck was traveling across the runway to respond to a separate incident on board a United Airlines flight that reported an odor issue. Moments before the crash, audio of an air traffic controller revealed that they gave clearance to a vehicle to cross part of the tarmac. Moments later, a controller can be heard saying, “Stop, stop, stop, truck 1 stop, truck 1, stop.”
Later in the audio transmission, a distraught controller is heard saying, “We were dealing with an emergency earlier. I messed up.”
Preliminary data show that the Air Canada plane was traveling between 93 and 105 mph when it collided with the fire truck, ABC News reported, citing FlightRadar24.
Meanwhile, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey had to temporarily pause flight arrivals and departures on Monday morning after a burning smell came from an elevator in the air traffic control tower, prompting controllers to evacuate. No injuries were reported and the delay lasted less than an hour. It was not related to Sunday’s fatal accident at LaGuardia.
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