LaGuardia closed after 2 killed in ground collision
Over 40 passengers were hospitalized
What happened
An Air Canada regional jet landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport Sunday night crashed into a fire truck, killing the pilot and copilot, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said. The Federal Aviation Administration shut down all flights at the airport until 2 p.m. local time Monday to facilitate the investigation of the collision. Of the 72 passengers and crew aboard the flight from Montreal, 41 were hospitalized and 31 have since been released, Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia said at a press conference.
Who said what
Air Canada Express Flight 8646, operated by Jazz Aviation, struck a rescue and firefighting truck that was “responding to a separate incident” shortly before midnight, LaGuardia said in a statement. Photos of the scene showed “severe damage to the front of the aircraft, with cables and debris hanging from a mangled cockpit,” and the “damaged emergency vehicle” on its side nearby, The Associated Press said.
The plane was “going about 130 miles per hour just before it hit the fire truck,” CNN said, citing data from Flightradar24. Air traffic control had granted the truck permission to cross the runway to a United flight that had reported an odor making flight attendants ill, then seconds later urgently ordered the truck to stop, according to audio from the tower. The National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating the incident.
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What next?
LaGuardia is a “critical hub for the busy Northeast corridor,” with “nearly 900 departures and arrivals each day,” The New York Times said. More than 400 flights were canceled Monday, “compounding delays at an airport already under strain” from TSA worker shortages.
