An Air Canada Express regional jet struck a Port Authority firefighting vehicle on Runway 4 at New York LaGuardia Airport late on March 22, 2026, prompting an emergency response and the temporary closure of the airport.
LaGuardia said the Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting vehicle had been responding to a separate incident when it was hit by the aircraft at around 11:40, local time.
“The airport is currently closed to facilitate the response and allow for a thorough investigation,” the airport said.
Jazz Aviation, which operated the flight on behalf of Air Canada, confirmed the incident involved flight AC8646, a CRJ900 flying from Montreal (YUL) to New York (LGA). Jazz said the preliminary passenger list showed 72 passengers and four crew members on board, although the figure remained subject to confirmation. The airline added that further details would follow.
BREAKING: Several injuries after Air Canada plane and firetruck collide on runaway at New York's LaGuardia Airport pic.twitter.com/cO6u5HD1YA
— BNO News (@BNONews) March 23, 2026
NBC News said the captain and first officer were killed in the collision, citing two sources familiar with the investigation.
The incident led to an immediate shutdown of airport operations as emergency protocols were activated. Reuters reported that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expected LaGuardia to remain closed until 14:00 ET on March 23, while the FAA’s airport status page later showed only minor arrival and departure delays, suggesting operations were at least partially recovering by early Monday.
The cause of the accident was not immediately clear. Reuters said the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was expected to investigate.
Two pilots confirmed killed, 41 people taken to hospital
Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said the two pilots of the Air Canada Express aircraft died after the plane collided with a vehicle on the runway at LaGuardia Airport. Garcia added that 41 passengers and crew members were taken to the hospital, 32 of whom have since been released, while others remained hospitalized with serious injuries.
Fire truck was responding to separate emergency before collision
The fire truck struck by the Air Canada Express CRJ900 had reportedly been responding to another incident involving United Airlines flight UA2384, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 bound for Chicago O’Hare. The flight crew had reported an odor on board and aborted the departure, prompting emergency services to respond. In an unconfirmed ATC recording, a controller can be heard saying he had been “dealing with an emergency earlier.”
Audio from Air Traffic Control when plane collided with fire truck at New York airport:
— BNO News (@BNONews) March 23, 2026
"Stop Truck 1, stop!"
"We were dealing with an emergency earlier and I messed up" pic.twitter.com/7dJcFov4gq
Preliminary information indicates the vehicle requested and received clearance to cross Runway 04 at Taxiway D. Seconds later, the tower ordered it to stop, but the collision with the CRJ900, which was rolling out after landing, could not be avoided.
8 comments
Condolences to the families and the loved ones of the deceased pilots.
Speedy recovery to the injured ones too.
Could it be an ATC error?
Quit searching for someone to blame. You should know that there is not only one but always many contributing factors, so wait for the official report, learn from the tragedy and try not to reproduce it again.
Yes, likely. Although I am a little surprised that the fire truck appear not to have visually checked an active runway before crossing it.
Presumably. There have been claims asserting that ATC is responsible for both ground handling and flight operations.
My God, this is so sad. They were on the ground. The pilots can’t see a lot below that nose–their helping eyes outside just didn’t catch it. ✈️💕
As a pilot I firmly believe that the runway should be clear of vehicles when a landing clearance is issued. That ground vehicles are usually on ground control frequency and landing aircraft o tower can be a hiccup. That the crossing fire truck did not apparently look down and see the approaching aircraft lit up with bright landing lights is another gap. Unfortunately the two least blamable individuals are both dead.