By Gursimran Mehar, Bing Guan, Shubham Kalia, Allison Lampert and David Shepardson
NEW YORK/MONTREAL March 23 (Reuters) – An Air Canada Express jet collided with a fire truck while landing at New York’s LaGuardia airport late on Sunday, killing both pilots, injuring dozens and closing the facility, authorities said.
The Air Canada Express CRJ-900 plane, operated by its regional partner Jazz Aviation, was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members and had departed from Montreal, said Jazz, which is owned by Chorus Aviation. Jazz and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed that the pilot and first officer were killed.
The crash comes as U.S. aviation faces chronic shortages of air traffic controllers and a separate shortfall of Transportation Security Administration officers due to a partial government shutdown that has led to delays, long security lines and heightened safety concerns across airports nationwide.
“Today is an incredibly difficult day for our airline, our employees, and most importantly, the families and loved ones of those affected by the accident involving flight 8646,” said Jazz President Doug Clarke.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at least two Port Authority firefighters sustained serious injuries.
NINE SERIOUSLY INJURED IN HOSPITAL
Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority, said 32 of the 41 injured had been released, while nine remained in hospital with “serious injuries.”
Aviation safety experts say investigators would look at air traffic control staffing levels, the activities of the controller and truck crew that night, along with the position of the truck.
“The Air Canada jet was obviously cleared to land and from the radio transmissions, it appears that the airport rescue and firefighting vehicle was cleared. There are a lot of questions now regarding the communications,” said U.S. safety expert Anthony Brickhouse. “Communication is going to be a major part of this investigation.”
U.S. airports have for years struggled with shortages of air traffic controllers and are wrestling with a separate shortfall of Transportation Security Administration officers due to a partial government shutdown that has impacted passengers across the country, further testing a strained system.
FIRE TRUCK WAS CLEARED TO CROSS RUNWAY
Garcia said the fire truck was responding to a separate United Airlines aircraft that had “reported an issue with odor.”
Minutes earlier, air traffic control audio from LiveATC.net indicated that a United Airlines flight had declared an emergency due to an odor onboard. Controllers advised the crew that fire trucks were already on site.
A second transmission then shows a fire truck was cleared to cross Runway 4, where the collision occurred, at taxiway ‘Delta.’
Moments later, according to the ATC audio, a controller can be heard saying: “Stop, stop, stop, truck 1 stop, truck 1, stop.”
The aircraft struck the fire vehicle at a speed of about 24 miles per hour (39 kph), according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24, which last recorded data at 11:37 p.m. ET (0337 GMT).
Photos taken by Reuters after the accident showed visible damage to the nose of the plane, which was tilted upward.
Two unnamed passengers told ABC affiliate WABC of the shock of the accident on the late-night flight, with one describing a friend with a broken nose and travelers hitting their heads against the seat in front of them.
Air Canada referred Reuters to Jazz’s statement and said it was aware of the incident. Jazz had earlier acknowledged the collision and said it would provide further details when available.
Global Aerospace leads the airline’s all-risks cover for the Air Canada regional aircraft that was damaged, three senior aviation market sources said.
Those three sources said Marsh is the broker for the cover. One of those sources said the aircraft’s insured hull value was around $10 million.
FLIGHTS CANCELED, DELAYS EXPECTED
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it was deploying a team of experts to investigate the incident, while the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the airport was expected to remain shut until 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT) on Monday.
The closure of one of New York’s busiest airports will add to travel disruption caused by the weeks-long partial government shutdown. Absences among transportation security workers have soared, leading to lengthy lines for passengers at major U.S. airports.
About 546 flights had been canceled at the airport so far on Monday, according to tracking website FlightAware.
LaGuardia served more than 30 million annual passengers in 2025, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and a wide range of U.S. airlines operate at the airport.
RECENT INCIDENTS ADD PRESSURE
According to the FAA, there have been 97 runway incursions in January this year, compared to 133 incidents during the same period last year.
A bipartisan group of U.S. House lawmakers last month proposed legislation to address 50 aviation safety recommendations issued after a year-long investigation into the January 2025 collision between an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter that killed 67 people.
Last year also saw a UPS cargo plane crash shortly after takeoff in Louisville, Kentucky, killing seven and injuring 11 on the ground.
Canadian Transport Minister Steve MacKinnon said the country’s government was working closely with U.S. authorities “as they investigate this incident, and we are following developments closely.”
(Reporting by Gursimran Kaur, Shubham Kalia, Abu Sultan, Preetika Parashuraman and Ruchika Khanna in Bengaluru, Bing Guan in New York, Allison Lampert in Montreal and David Shepardson in Washington; Additional reporting by Joanna Plucinska and Susan Heavey; Editing by Jamie Freed and Joe Bavier)
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