Deadly collision at NYC’s LaGuardia Airport: Here’s what to know

NEW YORK (AP) — A jet landing at New York City‘s LaGuardia Airport collided with a fire truck on the runway, killing the pilot and copilot and injuring several others.

Here’s what you need to know:

What happened?

The crash occurred around 11:45 p.m. on Sunday when an Air Canada regional jet arriving from Montreal struck an airport fire truck traveling across the runway to respond to a separate incident aboard another plane.

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Audio recordings from the airport control tower indicate the truck was initially cleared to cross the runway before a controller tried to pull it back to avoid a collision. The unnamed controller repeatedly told the vehicle to stop and diverted incoming aircraft from landing. He said later in the recording: “I messed up.”

Photos and videos from the crash’s aftermath show the jet’s nose crushed and tilted upward, with debris hanging from the mangled cockpit. Stairways used to evacuate passengers were pushed up to the emergency exits and the damaged emergency vehicle lay on its side nearby.

Weather at the time of the crash included moderate winds of about 7 knots and visibility of around 4 miles (6.5 kilometers) with mist and fog conditions, according to Bryan Bedford, head of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Who was hurt or killed?

The pilot and copilot were the only confirmed fatalities of the roughly 70 passengers and four crew members on board the Jazz Aviation flight, which was operating on behalf of Air Canada.

Their names have not been released by officials, but a family member identified one of them as Antoine Forest of Canada.

About 40 passengers and crew members were also taken to area hospitals, some with serious injuries, the authority said. Most were released as of Monday morning.

Two emergency responders traveling in the fire truck also suffered non-life-threatening injuries. One is expected to be released later Monday, while the other will spend another night in the hospital, according to Kathryn Garcia, head of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.

Among the survivors was a flight attendant who was thrown from the plane while still strapped in her seat. Solange Tremblay suffered multiple fractures to her leg that require surgery but is miraculously OK, according to her daughter.

How is air travel impacted?

LaGuardia was shut down following Sunday’s crash and all air traffic was diverted as the National Transportation Safety Board investigated. It reopened Monday afternoon.

The crash and temporary closure added further misery as U.S. airports struggle under a partial shutdown over government funding during the busy spring break season.

LaGuardia is a major transit hub — the 19th busiest out of more than 500 airports in the country in 2024, according to the FAA.
Sunday’s crash was the first fatal accident at the airport in more than 30 years, New York officials said.

LaGuardia, named after Depression-era Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, opened to commercial traffic in 1939 and is located in the New York City borough of Queens, some 9 miles (14 kilometers) from Manhattan.

Odor issue on another plane prompted an emergency response

According to air traffic control audio, that other plane — United Flight 2384 — had declared an emergency for a “weird odor” that the pilot said was causing flight attendants to feel ill while the plane was waiting to take off.

The pilot requested to return to a gate and asked for firefighters to respond. Before the odor issue, the pilot had twice rejected takeoff because an anti-ice warning light had come on in the cockpit.

Staff shortages in air traffic control rooms scrutinized

The crash underscores the challenges air traffic controllers have faced in recent years.

Controllers are required to report to work without pay during government funding shutdowns as they are considered essential workers. But some over the years have taken to calling out of work sick in frustration, leading to staffing shortages that cause flight delays.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Monday declined to say how many controllers were on duty at the time of Sunday’s crash, deferring instead to the ongoing NTSB investigation.

NTSB investigators walk the scene of the Mar. 22 collision between an Air Canada Express plane and a firefighting vehicle on Runway 4 at LaGuardia Airport. pic.twitter.com/lLuC5YCAzv

— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) March 23, 2026

But he denied rumors that the tower had only one controller on duty and said LaGuardia is “very well staffed,” with 33 certified controllers and more in training. He said the goal is to have 37 on staff.

Did the government shutdown play a role?

Air traffic controllers are not directly affected by the current shutdown, which has lasted more than a month and has caused long lines and frustration among travelers at airports across the country.

Hundreds of Transportation Security Administration agents have called in sick or quit their jobs rather than be forced to work without pay. President Donald Trump, in response, deployed immigration enforcement officers to supplement TSA agents on Monday.

Congress remains deadlocked over approving funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the TSA.

Roughly 20 minutes later, the controller appears to blame himself. “We were dealing with an emergency earlier,” the controller said. “I messed up.”

About 40 passengers and crew members on the regional jet from Montreal, and two people from the fire truck, were taken to hospitals, some with serious injuries. Most were released by Monday morning, authorities said.

A key for investigators will be examining coordination of the airport’s air traffic and ground traffic at the time of the crash, said Mary Schiavo, a former Department of Transportation Inspector General. “This has been happening for years and sadly some of the most horrific air crashes in history happen on the ground at the airport.”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said LaGuardia is “well-staffed” but faces a shortage of controllers. He said there are 33 certified controllers but the goal is to have 37. More than one controller was on duty at the time of the accident, he said.

“I can’t give specifics on what went wrong,” Duffy said, deferring to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation and planned a news conference for Monday evening. Canada also sent a team of investigators.

The crash shut down LaGuardia — the New York region’s third busiest hub — during what was already a messy time at U.S. airports because of a partial government shutdown.

Flights resumed Monday afternoon on one runway and with lengthy delays. The shutdown caused some disruptions at other airports, too, especially for Delta, which has a major presence at LaGuardia.

Passenger says they helped each other escape the plane

Airport security camera video shows a convoy of emergency vehicles traveling across the tarmac with their lights flashing in the moments before the plane lands, according to a recording of the video shared online.

While most of the vehicles appear to stop at the edge of the runway, the lead vehicle keeps going, directly into the path of the aircraft.

A person familiar with the investigation confirmed the authenticity of the video. The person requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details of an ongoing investigation.

The collision left cables and debris dangling from the mangled cockpit. Images show the fire truck flipped onto its side, with most of the damage to its back half.

Flight attendant Solange Tremblay suffered multiple fractures to one leg and will need surgery after being thrown from the plane, daughter Sarah Lépine told Canadian news station TVA Nouvelles.

Her survival is “a total miracle,” Lépine said. “I’m still trying to understand how all this happened, but she definitely has a guardian angel watching over her.”

Passenger Rebecca Liquori said the plane hit turbulence while descending, and she then felt it brake hard and heard a loud boom.
“Everybody just jolted out of their seats. People hit their heads. People were bleeding,” Liquori told News12 Long Island, a station where she once worked.

Liquori said passengers helped each other slide down a wing.

“I’m just happy to be alive,” said Liquori, who had gone to Montreal for a cousin’s baby shower. “I would have never pictured a one-hour flight that I’ve done countless times … ending like this.”

Passenger Clément Lelièvre credited the pilots’ “incredible reflexes” with saving his life and others’. The pilots braked extremely hard just as the plane touched down, he said.

US and Canada sending investigators to New York

The pilot and copilot who died were both based out of Canada, said Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.

Jeannette Gagnier, the great aunt of one of the pilots, identified him as Antoine Forest. Forest looked at her as a grandmother figure and always wanted to be a pilot, she said. His LinkedIn page showed he had worked for two airlines the past five years.

President Donald Trump called it a “terrible” situation. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement the accident was “deeply saddening.”

The Port Authority identified the two people in the fire truck as Sgt. Michael Orsillo and Officer Adrian Baez. They suffered injuries not believed to be life-threatening, Garcia said. One was expected to be released Monday while the other will stay in the hospital for observation, she said.

The fire truck was traveling across the runway to respond to a United Airlines flight, whose pilot had reported “an issue with odor,” said Garcia.

It was the first fatal crash at LaGuardia in 34 years, Garcia said.

There were 72 passengers and four crew members aboard the Jazz Aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada, according to the airline. The flight originated at Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.

Hours after the crash, the plane remained on the runway with its crumpled nose tilted upward.

LaGuardia has a system to spot runway encounters

The air traffic controller tried to warn the fire truck.

“Stop, stop, stop, Truck 1. Stop, stop, stop,” the transmission says. “Stop, Truck 1.” The controller can then be heard frantically diverting an incoming aircraft from landing.

Air traffic controllers are not impacted by the partial government shutdown that has caused long delays at airport security checkpoints in recent days. They have been affected by past shutdowns.

The FAA has been chronically short on air traffic controllers for years. Former FAA air traffic control chief Mike McCormick said LaGuardia has not had perennial staffing problems, but the tower would have been lightly staffed during the overnight shift at the time of the crash.

LaGuardia is one of 35 major U.S. airports with an advanced surface surveillance system designed to help keep track of planes and vehicles crossing the airport.

An alarm heard in the background of the air traffic control audio was likely from the system and would have alerted the tower to the potential collision, McCormick said.

“It’s an aid in a situation like this,” he said, but the system doesn’t know if someone has given clearance for a vehicle to cross a runway.

FAA statistics show there were 1,636 runway incursions last year.

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