LaGuardia Airport reopening after 2 pilots killed in Air Canada collision

Pilots killed after broadcast Canada skim collides with vehicle at N.Y. Airdrome

2 pilots killed after Air Canada plane hits fire truck on runway

Hear excerpts from the air traffic control audio captured in LaGuardia plane, vehicle collision

Passengers 'woke up in shock' as plane collided with vehicle at LaGuardia airport

Who controls the runway? A retired air traffic controller explains

The arrivals area at LaGuardia’s Terminal B is eerily quiet, as no flights have landed here since the airport was closed in the early hours of this morning. 

Air Canada president and CEO Michael Rousseau called the collision tragic, saying today is "a sombre day."

"We know there are many questions, but at this early stage we do not have all the answers," Rousseau said in a video statement posted to X.

Air Canada Flight 8646 had 72 passengers and four crew on board. The captain and first officer were killed. Air Canada is working with authorities to confirm the number of injuries, "and if there are any other fatalities," Rousseau said.

He reiterated earlier messaging that anyone concerned about loved ones who were on the flight can call 1-800-961-7099 for assistance.

I’m at LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B, where Air Canada flights normally arrive and depart. 

Nearly 600 flights have been cancelled so far today, making it pretty quiet inside the terminal. 

The National Transportation Safety Board had said this morning that the airport would remain closed for flights until at least 2 p.m. ET. 

LaGuardia posted on X that it is on track to reopen at 2 p.m. 

There are a number of flights showing on the information screens as scheduled to depart later this afternoon and passengers are going through security to the departure gates. 

I was able to see the wreckage of the Air Canada Express jet on the tarmac from the upper floors of the parking garage adjacent to the terminal.

"This was a needless, preventable disaster that never should have occurred," he said.

The aircraft had been cleared to land by air traffic control, but a fire truck was cleared to cross the runway by the ground tower. An air traffic controller spotted the problem and tried to prevent a collision, but was too late, Clifford said.

Asked if the controllers directing the plane and the fire truck would be in communication with each other, Clifford said, "they’re supposed to be."

An air traffic controller's remark "I messed up" should not be overemphasized in the probe into Sunday's deadly collision between an Air ⁠Canada Express CRJ-900 plane and a fire truck at LaGaurdia Airport, according to the former director of accident investigation for the FAA. 

"I don't really think those three words are going to change the NTSB's tried-and-true, decades-long approach to solving accidents, which is to be absolutely thorough, absolutely make sure no piece of evidence is overlooked," Steve Wallace said, referring to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. 

Wallace said the NTSB will be thorough and have a trove of data in addition to witness statements, from cockpit voice and data recordings to air traffic control tower recordings, which will include the controller's remarks, made over the radio just seconds after the accident. The NTSB typically produces an interim report within weeks or months, with the final report typically following a year to two after an incident.

"A little different impact angle and add a fire into the mix and it could have been way, way worse than it was," he said.

The Associated Press

Passenger Rebecca Liquori said that after the plane touched down, she felt it brake hard and heard a loud boom.

"Everybody just jolted out of their seats. People hit their heads. People were bleeding," Liquori told News12 Long Island, a station where she once worked before becoming a nurse.

Liquori, who said she helped open the emergency exit door, recalled passengers helping each other slide down a wing to get out.

"I'm just happy to be alive," said Liquori, who had gone to Montreal for a cousin's baby shower. "I would have never pictured a one-hour flight that I've done countless times ending like this."

"I don't know how many wake-up calls the [Federal Aviation Administration] 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,” Mary Schiavo, a former Department of Transportation inspector general, told The Associated Press.

When two planes at Tokyo's Haneda airport collided on the ground in 2024, killing five, I took a look at five significant aviation incidents that happened on the ground, including the worst such disaster in history and a barely avoided catastrophe for Air Canada.

You can read that here.

Quebec Premier François Legault said he learned "with consternation of the tragic accident" at LaGuardia. 

"My thoughts are with the families of the pilot and co-pilot who died, as well as everyone affected by this event," he wrote on X.

A reporter asked U.S. President Donald Trump for comment on the crash, as he prepared to board Air Force One on his way back to Washington from a weekend at Mar-a-Lago. 

"They made a mistake. It's a dangerous business. That's terrible," Trump said. He then walked away without saying who he meant by "they."

Prime Minister Mark Carney offered his condolences to the victims, their families and all those affected by the crash. 

"The collision involving an Air Canada Express aircraft last night in New York that claimed the lives of the pilot and co-pilot, and injured dozens more, is deeply saddening," he wrote on X. 

Carney said Canadian officials are working closely with their U.S. Counterparts on the ground as the investigation continues.

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