Latest update: LaGuardia has reopened as of 2 PM Monday, March 23. On Tuesday, March 24, there were still significant delays at the airport as only one of the two runways is operational. The FAA is reporting that arrival delays are averaging 4 hours and 40 minutes. The earliest the runway will re-open is Friday, March 27.
New York’s LaGuardia Airport remains closed until at least 2 p.m. Monday following a fatal collision between an Air Canada regional jet (flight AC8646) and a fire truck during landing late Sunday. A pilot and copilot were killed in the crash, while about 40 passengers and crew were taken to nearby hospitals, authorities said, as the National Transportation Safety Board begins its investigation.
About 546 flights had been canceled at the airport so far on Monday, according to tracking website FlightAware.
The aircraft, operated by Jazz Aviation on behalf of Air Canada, was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members, the airline said. The flight had departed from Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, the city’s main hub.
Two Port Authority employees riding in the fire truck were also injured, though their conditions are not considered life-threatening, according to Kathryn Garcia, Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.
Garcia said at a news conference that both the pilot and copilot were based in Canada.
The fire truck was traveling across the runway to respond to a separate incident aboard a United Airlines flight, whose pilot had reported “an issue with odor,” said Garcia, who deferred additional questions about the sequence of events leading up to the crash to the NTSB.
In the moments before the crash, an air traffic controller could be heard on a radio transmission giving clearance to a vehicle to cross part of the tarmac, then trying to stop it.
“Stop, Truck 1. Stop,” the transmission says. 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.
Images and video from the scene showed extensive damage to the front of the plane, with the cockpit crushed and debris and cables exposed. A damaged emergency vehicle could be seen overturned nearby.
Evacuation stairs were positioned at the jet’s exits to assist passengers off the Bombardier CRJ, which was left with its nose crumpled and angled upward after the impact.
Meanwhile, full planes on the tarmac, waiting to take off, were informed the airport was closing and they had to return to the terminal, where a departure board filled with cancellations awaited. LaGuardia Airport is informing travelers to check with their airlines before heading to their flight.
See a statement from Air Canada here.
