24/7 LiveNew York CityNew JerseyLong IslandNorthern SuburbsConnecticut
Live

LaGuardia plane crash: Runway reopens after mangled aircraft, truck removed

WABC logo
Last updated: Thursday, March 26, 2026 9:34PM GMT
LaGuardia runway reopens after Air Canada plane crash

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A regional Air Canada jet collided with a Port Authority airport vehicle at LaGuardia Airport in New York City late Sunday, an on-the-ground crash that demolished the front of the airplane, killed two pilots, injured dozens of passengers and prompted the airport to shut down.

The fire truck was crossing the tarmac just before midnight after being given permission to check on another plane reporting an odor onboard. Before the collision, an air traffic controller can be heard on airport communications frantically telling the fire truck to stop.

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.

The National Transportation Safety Board is working to determine which of the airport's many layers of safety precautions failed, allowing the fire truck onto the runway.

Among the areas being explored are whether the common practice of having two controllers on duty overnight is sufficient, why the runway warning system failed to alert the possibility of a crash, who was coordinating air and ground traffic, and whether the fire truck heard the controller's last-second pleas to stop.

(ABC News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
Mar 23, 2026, 6:44 PM GMT

Pilots killed, dozens hurt in Air Canada, fire truck collision at LaGuardia Airport

LaGuardia Airport in New York was closed for hours following a collision between a Port Authority airport vehicle and an Air Canada regional plane that killed the pilot and co-pilot and injured more than a dozen others late Sunday night.

The Jazz Aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada that was involved in the collision was traveling from Montreal to New York. A spokesperson for the FDNY said firefighters responded to the incident at 11:38 p.m. on Sunday.

Photos and videos from the scene showed severe damage to the front of the CRJ-900 aircraft, with cables and debris hanging from a mangled cockpit. Nearby, a damaged emergency vehicle lay on its side.

An Air Canada jet and Port Authority fire truck sit on the runway at LaGuardia Airport after colliding with each other after the Jet landed Sunday night in New York.
An Air Canada jet and Port Authority fire truck sit on the runway at LaGuardia Airport after colliding with each other after the Jet landed Sunday night in New York.

The airport reopened and resumed operations with a single runway at 2 p.m. on Monday.

Watch Live
ON NOW