 "Pilots dead after plane collides with truck at New York Airport. How did the tragedy unfold?")
New York’s famous La Guardia Airport shut down on Sunday night after an arriving Air Canada Express plane and ground vehicle collided. The collision, according to the New York Post, has resulted in the death of the pilot as well as co-pilot, leaving at least four firefighters critically injured in the incident.
According to a Port Authority spokesperson, the flight from Montreal was landing around 11.40 pm when the aircraft struck the vehicle on the runway.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the airport was expected to remain shut until 2 pm ET on Monday, and LaGuardia’s airport showed arriving planes being diverted to other airports or returned to their point of origin.
How did the Air Canada collision unfold?
The collision occurred around 11:40 pm on Sunday, after a Jazz Aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada had come in from Montreal. The plane, a CRJ-900 carrying 76 passengers, was at a speed of speed of around 24 miles per hour (39 kph), when it hit a fire truck identified as Truck 1 while attempting to cross runway 04/22.
Flight tracking platform FlightRadar24 said the plane “was rolling down the runway when it struck” the rescue vehicle as it crossed its path.
In an audio clip that has since gone viral, an air traffic controller can be heard saying, “stop, stop, stop” to the truck driver, seconds before it crashed into the plane.
Reports of a serious incident at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, after Jazz Airlines Flight 646, a Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-900, collided with a firetruck while taxiing to Gate B48. pic.twitter.com/FPTayPzHAt
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 23, 2026
In the clip, one can hear the official saying that “Truck 1 and company LaGuardia Tower are requesting to cross 4 at Delta.”
“Truck 1 and company crossing 4,” the officer is then heard saying. The traffic controller then asks “Frontier 4195, just stop there, please.”
“Stop, stop, stop, stop, Truck 1, stop, stop, stop. Stop, Truck 1, stop,” the controller can be heard shouting in panic.
The crash then took place seconds later. The traffic controller then asks “Delta 2603” to “go around”.
“Jet 646. Jet 646, I see you collide with a vehicle.”
The vehicle “was responding to a separate incident,” a Port Authority official said without adding details about the assignment.
According to Jeff Guzzetti, a retired aircraft accident investigator and NBC News aviation analyst, the collision seems to be the result of a miscommunication between the taxing aircraft and the ground vehicle. “That vehicle needs to follow the orders of the controller, just like any airplane would to avoid this type of situation right here,” he said, adding ground collisions are a “rare occurrence.”
“I can’t even think of the last time we had a collision on the ground between an airplane and a vehicle that resulted in critical injuries,” he said.
Based on the information available, it did not appear there was any problem with the plane, he said, adding it was likely an “operational issue involving either the pilot, the controller, or the vehicle driver”.
How many are dead/injured in the collision?
Following the crash, images show a heavily damaged nose and cockpit section of the Air Canada Express plane, on the tarmac flanked by emergency vehicles with their lights flashing.
The pilot and co-pilot were reportedly killed but there was no initial information about whether any of the fire crew or the 76 people on board the plane were injured. An NBC News report stated that more than a dozen passengers on board the Air Canada flight suffered varying degrees of injuries and had been rushed to Elmhurst and Queens Presbyterian hospitals.
Authorities and emergency agencies did not offer any immediate comments on deaths or injuries.
What is the impact of this collision?
Following the collision, the National Transportation Safety Board is launching a go team to investigate the collision.
Moreover, the LaGuardia airport has been shut down for services and will remain shut until 2 pm ET on Monday (1800 GMT). New York’s emergency management authority warned people to “expect cancellations, road closures, traffic delays & emergency personnel,” and use alternate routes near the airport.
In a statement on X, the New York City Police Department told people to “expect delays and avoid the area if possible”. “Due to an emergency incident at LaGuardia Airport, all streets and highway exits into the airport are closed until further notice.”
The disruptions at LaGuardia are significant. Located in the New York borough of Queens, LaGuardia is New York’s third-busiest airport, serving 33.5 million passengers in 2024, according to port authority figures.
Moreover, these disruptions come when airports are already struggling as a result of shortage of TSA workers owing to the partial shutdown. In fact, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will be deployed at US airports starting today, aiming to alleviate soaring congestion at security screenings amid a weeks-long budget standoff over President Donald Trump’s mass deportation drive.
With inputs from agencies
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