New York’s LaGuardia Airport is now reopened following an Air Canada collision on Sunday night that left an Air Canada captain and first officer dead.
Originating from Montreal, the plane was carrying 76 people when it touched down and slammed into a fire truck on a runway at around 11:30 p.m, according to Air Canada’s regional airline, Jazz Aviation.
Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon expressed his “profound sadness” at the House of Commons question period Monday afternoon.
“As minister of transport, I know that it’s important that every person working in transport to come home at the end of every day. That’s what we want and so in the face of this tragedy, we are searching for answers,” he said. “Canada is searching for answers.”
MacKinnon also said he has spoken with Sean Duffy, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.
“We will be continuing to work together to get to the bottom to find the answers that Canadians are going to be looking for, Mr. Speaker, and we will get those answers for them.”
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is now deploying a team of investigators to support the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in their investigation surrounding the collision.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has released a statement on X, calling the collision “deeply saddening.”
Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, said the 72 passengers and four crew have been accounted for.
However, the two pilots – who were based out of Canada – died, she told reporters early Monday morning.
Garcia said 41 people were taken to two hospitals in Queens and 32 were eventually released. Nine remained in care, including some in serious condition, she said.
Two Port Authority employees travelling in the fire truck suffered non-life-threatening injuries, she added.
Air Canada said in a statement Monday that Flight 8646 was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members, though it was subject to confirmation.
“The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed that the pilot and the first officer were killed in this accident. We are deeply saddened by the loss of two Jazz employees, and our deepest condolences go out to the entire Jazz community and their families,” the airline said.
It will remain closed until 2 p.m., the airport added, while the NTSB investigates with the support of the TSB.
“Air Canada and Jazz Aviation are cooperating with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada and the National Transportation Safety Board in the United States in the investigation of the cause of this incident.”
Doug Clarke, president of Jazz Aviation, said in a statement that it’s an “incredibly difficult day” for the airline.
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“As the investigation unfolds, we are fully committed to cooperating with the relevant authorities to determine what happened,” he said.
“We will share updates as soon as verified information becomes available. We will continue to provide our full support in the days and weeks ahead.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has also said on X he is “saddened to hear of the awful news of the plane collision at LaGuardia Airport.”
“Canadian officials are working closely with their U.S. counterparts on the ground as the investigation continues. My thoughts are with the victims, their families, and all those impacted,” the statement reads.
How did the crash happen?
The flight originated from Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. The Associated Press reported that a fire truck was crossing Runway 4 in response to a separate incident involving a United Airlines flight when it was hit. Garcia said that issue was related to an odour on takeoff.
An air traffic controller could be heard on a radio transmission giving clearance for a vehicle to cross part of the tarmac before the collision but then tries to stop it.
“Stop, Truck 1. Stop,” the transmission says. The controller can then be heard frantically diverting an incoming aircraft from landing.
In the aftermath of the collision, one staffer sought to console another. “That wasn’t good to watch,” says one.
“I know. I tried to reach out,” says the second person. “We were dealing with an emergency earlier.”
“You did the best you could,” says the first.
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In a transmission nearly 20 minutes later, the controller appears to blame himself.
“We were dealing with an emergency earlier,” the controller said. “I messed up.”
Photos from the scene showed severe damage to the front of the aircraft, with cables and debris hanging from a mangled cockpit. Nearby, a damaged emergency vehicle was on its side.
Stairways used to evacuate passengers from aircraft were pushed up to the emergency exits on the jet, a Bombardier CRJ. The impact left the jet with its crumpled nose tilted upward.
What will the TSB investigation look into?
Harvey Scolnick, a retired air traffic controller with the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority, said that it is likely that the NTSB’s investigation recommends that “any time there are runway crossings that the vehicles that are crossing and the airplanes are all on the same frequency.”
“Situational awareness is an extremely important thing when it comes to pilots, and it’s also important when it comes to vehicles,” he said.
Scolnick also said that vehicles being cleared to cross the runway happen daily, making this collision a mix of “really awful timing and really bad luck.”
“For something like this to happen, for there to be a contact on the runway between a vehicle and an airplane is just about unheard of,” he said.
While air traffic controllers are not impacted by the partial government shutdown that has caused extended delays at American airport security checkpoints in recent days, they have been affected by previous shutdowns and are facing significant staffing shortages.
Karl Moore, an aviation expert and associate professor at McGill University, said that the shortage is “widely recognized.”
“They’re not hiring enough people, and perhaps some of the movements for economy done by the White House may have impacted that as well, some are not being paid, or some things that are out there as ideas that might impact it,” he said. “It has been seen as a problem from time to time. And again, it has, in this case, deadly consequences.”
However, Moore said that it could take “awhile” before an official cause is announced.
Both Canadian and American governments have ‘pledged cooperation’
In a media scrum, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called LaGuardia Airport “a very well-staffed airport” but acknowledged it is below target staffing levels.
“We’re a couple controllers short in total, but it is a well-staffed airport,” he said. “This airport has a target of 37 controllers at LaGuardia. We have 33 controllers employed, certified at LaGuardia. And we have six that are seven that are in training.”
Duffy did not say how many controllers were working at the time of the crash or whether staffing at the time was at target levels, despite overall staffing being below target.
In a separate scrum with Canadian reporters in Ottawa on Monday, MacKinnon said officials from Canada and the U.S. will work together, and that “airport and air traffic systems in Canada are incredibly safe.”
“Unfortunately, there have been incidents that we both observed on the phone call, including the Delta incident in Toronto, which has caused our respective transportation safety personnel to work together, so it’s an unfortunately well-worn path,” he said.
During the afternoon of Feb. 17, Delta Air Lines Flight 4819 — operated by subsidiary Endeavor Air and coming to Toronto from Minneapolis — hit the tarmac and burst into flames; it eventually flipped over on its roof before coming to a stop.
— with files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press
The traffic controller made a tragic mistake rhat resulted in loss of life and multiple injuries.
Maybe if airlines weren’t doing everything they can to make more profit, including CUTTING LEG ROOM AND PUTTING SEATS INCREDIBLY CLOSE TOGETHER, then nobody would have been injured. As the girl in the video said, many passengers head hit the seat in front of them….As usual, sacrifice safety for profit.
… American stupidity strikes again.
1978 Air craft struck snow plow. I believe 40 people killed
In 1978 aircraft struck snow plow in Cranbrook, BC
Probably the result of US cost cutting… sadly!
Why search ? someone was where they should not have been…. why is that hard to understand
Cannot understand why the firetruck would be given the ok to continue across that strip, when the plane is landed and coming down the runway. For the seconds that the crash was, shouldn’t the firetruck have been told to slow down and allow the plane to pass? Terrible accident that should not have happened.
Another one for the Mayday pros to figure out – those guys are the best. Aim is to prevent it from happening again.
I grieve for the pilot and First Officer and their families. From all accounts, it appears they saw the truck as they were touching down and braked really hard, but it was too late. There’s no way you can stop a 20,000lb plane travelling at 210 miles per hour on a dime.
I’m glad no one else was killed, though I feel sorry for all those injured or otherwise traumatised.
I also feel sorry for the air traffic controller; what a terrible weight he will have to carry for the rest of his life.
I don’t, however, feel the least bit sorry for the US government, who must bear the blame for understaffing American air traffic control since Reagan fired all the air traffic controllers to break their union in 1981 and who, under Trump’s DOGE fired 400 FAA employees whose job was to support the understaffed air traffic controllers.
Some will say the plane should have put brakes on before touching the runway…they also would vote for a person named Fence Post of U cee Pee. Similar types also elected t rump. This all leads up to t rump.
@Rob Wise: Your ignorance and stupidity is appalling. The controllers themselves say they “messed up” but you know better???? Must be Canada’s fault somehow eh? Air traffic “control” is a joke in some airports.
When an emergency vehicle races to a call out they yield and slow at intersections to ensure traffic visibly sees it before proceeding. The fire truck did not yield or look for oncoming traffic. There are several breakdowns in this tragic event.
Bwana4, US is not a 3rd world country. Far from it, actually. Canada is way closer to it.
So sad
What the hell is passing as air traffic control in the US,! This happening too much!
Terrible. Condolences.
The US is turning into a 3rd world country WRT air travel! Stay at home. Don’t fly in to or out of the USA!!
Rob, you really have no concept of the way runways and planes work do you?
Way to go, ATC.
Rob, that’s not how it works. I’m a commercial pilot – a plane landing has the right-of-way. ATC shouldn’t have cleared the firetruck to cross the runway.
It’s the air traffic controllers fault. First gave clearance to the truck, then tried to stop it and then tried to stop the plane. Shameful. Probably a DEI hire.
Condolences to the crew.
Uh oh, who was glued to their phone?
Rob, we don’t know all the details of what happened yet.
Rob, a plane stopping is like having a train stop, think of physics, the fire truck should have gotten out of the way. Do not blame the pilots. May they rest in peace and condolences to their families
Why was an fire truck in the area where planes are landing, it doesn’t make sense
A active fire truck has the right of way just like on a street where other vehicles have to yield to a fire truck.
Air traffic controllers were yelling at the plane to stop but it being Air Canada pilots…
What was a fire truck doing on an active runway?????