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Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
An Air Canada jet carrying more than 70 passengers collided with a fire truck while landing at LaGuardia Airport late Sunday night, killing both pilots and injuring dozens of others, according to officials. The Jazz Aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada was arriving from Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport when the collision occurred just before midnight on the runway.
Airport security camera video shows a convoy of emergency vehicles traveling across the tarmac with their lights flashing in the moments before the plane lands, according to a recording shared online. While most of the vehicles appear to stop at the edge of the runway, the lead fire truck continues directly into the path of the aircraft, a person familiar with the investigation confirmed to News 12.
The devastating impact severed the cockpit and hurled a flight attendant — still secured to her seat — far from the crash site, a family member told Canadian TV station TVA Nouvelles. She survived but suffered multiple fractures to one leg and will need surgery. “Her survival is ‘a total miracle,’” the family member said. “I’m still trying to understand how all this happened, but she definitely has a guardian angel watching over her.”
The fire truck was crossing the tarmac after being given permission to check on a United Airlines flight whose pilot had reported “an issue with odor,” said Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Before the collision, an air traffic controller can be heard on airport communications frantically telling the fire truck to stop. “Stop, stop, stop, Truck 1. Stop, stop, stop,” the transmission says. The controller can then be heard frantically diverting an incoming aircraft from landing.
Roughly 20 minutes after the crash, the air traffic controller appears to blame himself on the communications. “We were dealing with an emergency earlier,” the controller said. “I messed up.” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said LaGuardia is “well-staffed” but faces a shortage of controllers, with 33 certified controllers when the goal is to have 37. More than one controller was on duty at the time of the accident, he said.
About 40 passengers and crew members from the regional jet, along with two people from the fire truck, were taken to hospitals, some with serious injuries. Most were released by Monday morning, authorities said. The Port Authority identified the two fire truck occupants as a sergeant and an officer, who suffered injuries not believed to be life-threatening. One was expected to be released Monday while the other remained hospitalized for observation.
The pilot and copilot who died were both based out of Canada, Garcia said.
A passenger said the plane hit turbulence while descending, and she then felt it brake hard and heard a loud boom. “Everybody just jolted out of their seats. People hit their heads. People were bleeding,” she told News12. She said passengers helped each other slide down a wing to escape. “I’m just happy to be alive,” said the passenger, who had gone to Montreal for a family event. “I would have never pictured a one-hour flight that I’ve done countless times ending like this.”
Another passenger credited the pilots’ “incredible reflexes” with saving his life and others’. The pilots braked extremely hard just as the plane touched down, he said. There were 72 passengers and four crew members aboard the Jazz Aviation flight, according to Air Canada.
The collision left cables and debris dangling from the mangled cockpit. Images show the fire truck flipped onto its side, with most of the damage to its back half. Hours after the crash, the plane remained on the runway with its crumpled nose tilted upward.
Location & Road Context
The crash occurred at LaGuardia Airport, the New York region’s third busiest hub, shutting down operations during what was already a challenging time at U.S. airports due to a partial government shutdown. The runway where the crash happened remained closed for “days” during the investigation, NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said at a Monday evening press conference. She noted there was a “tremendous amount of debris” that investigators had to sift through.
Flights resumed Monday afternoon on one runway with lengthy delays. The shutdown caused disruptions at other airports as well, especially for Delta, which has a major presence at LaGuardia. It was the first fatal crash at LaGuardia in 34 years, Garcia said.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation, with Canada also sending a team of investigators. Homendy said authorities recovered the plane’s cockpit and flight data recorders and drove them to the agency’s lab in Washington for analysis. Officials had to cut a hole in the aircraft’s roof to access the recorders because the tail was on the ground, though the cockpit voice recorder was not damaged.
“I can’t give specifics on what went wrong,” Transportation Secretary Duffy said, deferring to the NTSB investigation. Homendy said it was too early in the investigation to answer many questions about the accident, with more information expected to be released Tuesday.