Emergency services early Monday at the site of a fatal crash at LaGuardia Airport in New York after an Air Canada Express aircraft collided with a fire truck, killing both pilots. Photo by Olga Fedorova/EPA
March 23 (UPI) — The pilot and co-pilot of an Air Canada regional jet with 76 people onboard were killed and several others were injured after the Bombardier CRJ-900 collided with a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport in New York, authorities said early Monday.
Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia told a news conference that 41 passengers and crew and two officers in the fire truck were taken to the hospital, 32 of whom have since been released but that there were also “serious injuries.”
“Sadly, the two pilots are confirmed deceased,” said Garcia.
She confirmed that the airport would remain closed until 2 p.m. EDT and that an investigation was underway following the accident, which occurred around 11.40 p.m. EDT on Sunday, shortly after the aircraft touched down from Montreal.
Images from the scene show the badly damaged aircraft came to rest with its nose pointed skyward.
Garcia said that the speed of the aircraft at the time of the collision, staffing of the air traffic control tower and whether any one was ejected from the aircraft were among the factors the National Transportation Safety Board would be investigating.
An alert issued by New York City’s official Emergency Notification System warned residents to expect “cancellations, road closures, traffic delays and emergency personnel” near the airport, which is in Queens on the northwestern shore of Long Island.
The FAA ordered a ground stop at 12:04 a.m. EDT, according to a statement from its Air Traffic Control System Command Center. The agency later said the airport would be closed until 2 p.m.
The plane struck the Port Authority Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting vehicle on Runway 4 late Sunday as it was responding to a separate, unknown incident, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates LaGuardia, told UPI in a statement.
There was no information regarding the other incident and it was unclear if it was related to an earlier incident reported by the FAA involving a Delta Air Lines flight to Nassau that was forced to return to LaGuardia mid-afternoon Sunday after the crew reported smoke in the cockpit.
The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed in a statement the involved vehicle was a fire truck and that it had deployed a team expected to arrive at LaGuardia later Monday to begin its investigation.
The Port Authority said the airport was closed to facilitate the response and allow for an investigation. Emergency response protocols were activated and its police force was at the scene working with airline and federal authorities, the agency said.
The New York Fire Department confirmed to UPI that it had responded to an incident.
Air Canada confirmed to UPI that it was aware of the crash involving Air Canada Express Flight 8646 from Montreal, Canada, to New York City.
The flight was operated by Jazz Aviation, which said in a statement that the incident occurred at 11:47 p.m. EDT Sunday. The plane was carrying 72 passengers and four crew, the Halifax-based airline said.
According to data from the website, Flight Aware, the flight was running late, departing Montreal-Trudeau International Airport two hours and 13 minutes behind schedule and arrived at La Guardia by a similar amount of time late.
All streets and highway exits to the airport have been closed until further notice, according to the New York Police Department.
