Two pilots flying an Air Canada Express jet were killed late Sunday after their aircraft collided with a fire truck on a runway at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, an impact that also sent 41 people to hospital and triggered a major cross-border investigation.
The aircraft, Flight AC8646, was operated by Jazz Aviation and had arrived from Montreal Trudeau International Airport with 72 passengers and four crew members on board. The crash happened shortly after 11:30 p.m. as the CRJ-900 was landing, according to officials.
Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said 41 people were taken to two hospitals in Queens. Early Monday, she said nine remained in care, including some with serious injuries.
The collision unfolded while the fire truck was responding to a separate emergency involving a United Airlines flight that had aborted takeoff after reporting a strange odour on board. Air traffic control audio indicated some flight attendants on that aircraft had begun feeling ill. Controllers were also arranging for a stair truck in case passengers needed to be removed from the plane.
Radio transmissions captured the urgency in the moments before the crash.
“Stop, Truck 1. Stop,” one controller is heard saying, before redirecting other incoming aircraft away from the runway.
In audio recorded after the collision, one airport staff member is heard trying to reassure another.
“That wasn’t good to watch,” says one.
“I know. I tried to reach out,” says the second person. “We were dealing with an emergency earlier.”
“You did the best you could,” says the first.
Garcia declined to comment further on how the crash sequence unfolded, saying those questions would be addressed by investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board.
Images from the scene showed the damaged jet resting tail-down, with its nose crushed and lifted upward. The cockpit appeared torn back to the side windows, exposing wiring and flight controls. Emergency stairways had been moved to the plane’s exits as passengers were evacuated.
Nearby, a heavily damaged neon yellow fire truck lay on its side. Garcia said two Port Authority employees aboard the vehicle suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.
In a statement, Air Canada said officials were travelling to LaGuardia to support the investigation. “We are deeply saddened by the loss of two Jazz employees, and our deepest condolences go out to the entire Jazz community and their families.”
The CRJ-900 involved in the crash is a regional jet typically used on short- and medium-haul routes, carrying between 76 and 90 passengers and linking smaller markets to major hub airports.
Garcia said LaGuardia would remain closed until at least 2 p.m. Monday as investigators worked at the scene. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is leading the probe, with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada sending a team to assist.
The shutdown also disrupted travel across the region, with some passengers rebooked for Tuesday and others scrambling to find flights from alternate airports, including Long Island MacArthur in Ronkonkoma.
