Air Canada crash at LaGuardia Airport: What happened, who were the victims?

Authorities are now investigating the cause of the collision, including whether air traffic control coordination may have played a role.

The CRJ-900 aircraft, operated by Jazz Aviation as Air Canada Flight AC8646 from Montreal, was landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York with 72 passengers and four crew members on board.

Minutes before the crash, a Port Authority fire truck was responding to a United Airlines flight that had reported an odour on board.

At approximately 11:40pm on Sunday (03:40 GMT on Monday), the Air Canada aircraft collided with the fire truck on the runway while landing.

Audio recordings reveal that an air traffic controller had initially cleared the truck to cross the runway, but as the Air Canada jet approached, the controller urgently tried to stop the vehicle, repeatedly shouting, “Truck One, stop, stop, stop!” in the seconds before the crash.

According to flight-tracking website Flightradar24, the aircraft struck the truck at about 39km/h (24mph). The site last recorded the plane’s data at 11:37pm on Sunday (03:37 GMT on Monday).

US and Canadian authorities are still investigating the incident, but early indications suggest they are focusing on air traffic control coordination.

Runway crossings require close communication between the ground controller, who manages vehicles and taxiways, and the tower controller, who manages the runway and aircraft movements. Controllers must ensure the runway is clear before giving a vehicle permission to cross.

Roughly 20 minutes after the collision, one of the controllers appeared to blame himself. “We were dealing with an emergency earlier,” the controller said. “I messed up.”

A key focus for investigators will be how air and ground traffic were managed at the time, said Mary Schiavo, a former US Department of Transportation inspector general.

“I don’t know how many wake-up calls the [US Federal Aviation Administration or FAA] needs, but this has been happening for years, and sadly, some of the most horrific air crashes in history happen on the ground at the airport,” Schiavo said.

The FAA has faced a long-running shortage of air traffic controllers, with recent estimates suggesting at least 3,000 more are needed.

However, former FAA air traffic control chief Mike McCormick said LaGuardia is “not a control tower that has perennial staffing problems”.

Still, the crash occurred during an overnight shift, when towers are typically staffed by fewer controllers. Investigators are expected to examine overtime, shift patterns and whether fatigue may have been a factor.

The incident also comes at a turbulent time for US airports more broadly.

In recent weeks, airports across the country have faced staffing shortages at the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) tied to the ongoing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the TSA, as well as US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other agencies, and has been without funding since mid-February after Congress failed to reach a budget agreement.

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that ICE agents will help support airport security operations across the country.

LaGuardia was the 19th-busiest airport in the US in 2024, with more than 16.7 million passengers departing from the airport, according to FAA data released in 2025.

It is located in the New York City borough of Queens. It primarily handles domestic flights within the US and some short international flights to Canada and the Caribbean.

Because of heavy traffic and limited runway space, LaGuardia is known for being a congested airport, where takeoffs and landings are tightly scheduled and closely coordinated by air traffic control.

The pilot and co-pilot who were killed were both based in Canada, as the cockpit and front section of the aircraft were destroyed in the collision.

In total, 41 passengers were taken to the hospital, along with two firefighters who were in the truck. Thirty-two people have since been released, but some passengers remain in the hospital with serious injuries.

A flight attendant was found alive outside the aircraft, still strapped into her seat. She was taken to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The seat reportedly fell through a hole in the aircraft’s floor.

Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One on Monday, Trump described the crash as “terrible”, saying aviation is “a dangerous business” and that “a mistake was made”.

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said his thoughts were with the victims and all those affected by the crash, adding that Canadian officials are assisting with the investigation.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said this was a “tragic collision” and thanked first responders for their quick actions, which he said helped save lives.

New York State Governor Kathy Hochul also described the incident as “heartbreaking”, saying her thoughts were with the victims, their families and all those affected.

According to reports, the airport was closed following the crash, but security checkpoints began reopening at around 1:30pm local time (17:30 GMT).