Updated March 23, 2026 at 11:31 AM EDT
Two pilots were killed and dozens of passengers injured when an Air Canada regional jet collided with a fire truck at New York's LaGuardia Airport late Sunday night.
Air Canada Flight 8646, operated by regional airline Jazz Aviation, was landing in New York around 11:30 p.m. when it struck a Port Authority Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting vehicle, said Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.
Officials say 72 passengers and four crew members were on board the flight from Montréal-Trudeau International Airport.
Garcia said at a press conference early Monday that the pilot and first officer, who have not yet been identified, were both killed. She said 41 passengers and crew members were transported to the hospital.
"At this time we understand 32 have been released, but there are also serious injuries," Garcia said early Monday.
She declined to elaborate on the condition of the nine people who remained hospitalized at the time of the press conference. Air Canada said in a Monday morning statement that it "cannot confirm the exact number of injuries or if there are other fatalities at this time."
Capt. Jason Ambrosi, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l, issued a statement calling "the loss of our two fellow crewmembers onboard Flight 8646 … a profound tragedy."
Garcia deferred many of the reporters' questions to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the federal agency that investigates civil transportation accidents, which quickly dispatched a go-team to New York.
LaGuardia will be closed until at least 2 p.m. ET on Monday to facilitate that investigation.
Condolences poured in Monday from state and federal leaders on both sides of the border.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called the collision "deeply saddening" and said transportation safety officials are working closely with their U.S. counterparts on the ground. President Trump, asked about it before boarding Air Force One, called it "terrible:" "They made a mistake. It's a dangerous business."
Air traffic control cleared the vehicle, then tried to stop it
The collision crumpled the front of the passenger jet, tilting its nose upward and forcing passengers to evacuate through emergency exits. Photos from the scene show debris hanging from the exposed cockpit and scattered across the tarmac, as the damaged emergency vehicle lies on its side nearby.
Garcia said the two officers on board the Port Authority vehicle were in "stable condition with no life-threatening injuries." The firetruck had been on the runway at the discretion of air traffic control, responding to a separate "odor" incident involving a United Airlines plane, she said.
"Anytime anyone is moving on any of our runways or taxiways, they have to get clearance from the tower," she added.
On an audio feed from the time of the incident, archived on the website LiveATC.net, an air traffic controller can be heard granting clearance to the vehicle to cross the tarmac, then quickly and repeatedly calling on it to stop.
Not long after, a different voice says they have just gotten word the airport will be closed for a while, adding, "that wasn't good to watch."
"I tried to reach out to them, I stopped them," the original voice says. "We were dealing with an emergency earlier and I messed up."
LaGuardia flight cancellations add to travelers' woes
At least 573 flights into or out of LaGuardia were cancelled on Monday, according to a tracker from FlightAware.
Many of those were operated by Delta Airlines, for which LaGuardia is a major hub. The airline said in a statement that it will automatically rebook affected passengers "to the next best itinerary," and that "additional schedule adjustments are possible if the closure extends."
LaGuardia was the 19th busiest airport in the U.S. in 2024, according to Federal Aviation Administration data. It saw about 900 inbound and outbound flights per day in January 2026, according to a Port Authority dashboard.
It is one of the three main airports serving the New York City metropolitan area. Another, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, briefly issued a ground stop on Monday morning after the air traffic control tower was evacuated due to smoke, according to local media.
Air travel has recently been fraught for many Americans, due to the partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security, which is now in its sixth week.
Many Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers, forced to work without pay, have either quit or called out from work, resulting in longer security lines at many airports. The Trump administration said over the weekend that it would be sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to assist at unspecified airports around the country starting Monday.
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