Late Thursday night, an Air Canada flight overshot the runway of LaGuardia Airport and crashed through a fire truck. The crash injured over a dozen passengers and crew members. The incident occurred around 11:38 p.m. ET, just minutes after the flight was cleared to land. Officials from both the American and Canadian transportation safety boards have initiated investigations into the crash. While it did leave 43 people still hospitalized, most of those have already been released.
The Air Canada flight, designated as Flight 8646 and operated by Jazz Aviation, had been cleared to land on runway 4 at approximately 11:35 p.m. ET. Only three minutes later, the plane hit the fire truck. The fire truck had been given clearance to cross the runway on an intersecting taxiway just two minutes before the incident occurred. Only ten seconds after declaring where the fire truck could go, the air traffic controller frantically ordered it to stop.
Details of the Incident
Witnesses said the Air Canada flight was just about to land as any commercial flight would before colliding with the point of impact.
Jack Cabot, a passenger aboard the flight, recounted the moment of impact, saying, “We went down for a regular landing. We came in pretty hard. We immediately hit something.” His comment captured the immediate pandemonium that followed as survivors reacted instinctively to escape the approaching danger.
Rebecca Liquori, another passenger on the train, recounted how the jarring impact sent people’s belongings—and bodies—flying, creating immediate chaos on the train. “Well, everyone just jumped out of their chairs,” she said.
Emergency responders were on the scene in short order to help control the aftermath of this unfortunate collision. Accounts say that one flight attendant was located on the ground, still in her seat belt outside of the plane.
Response and Recovery Efforts
In the aftermath of the collision, first responders helped recover critical flight information from the two aircraft. Within a few hours, investigators had sliced open the plane’s roof. This was crucial because it enabled them to retrieve the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. This data will be immensely important as crash investigators seek to reconstruct what occurred in the moments before the fatal collision.
In all, 43 individuals were taken to area hospitals for treatment of their injuries. Fortunately, many have since been released. Among those hurt were two firefighters who were in the emergency truck during the collision. All three remain hospitalized but are on the mend from their injuries.
State and local authorities are investigating the crash. Both the U.S. and Canadian transportation safety boards have dispatched teams to the scene to model what happened and gather evidence.
Passenger Reactions
Passengers on Flight 8646 had a lot to feel after the incident. Katie Rojas, a Chicago area traveler, found that information about the crash was hard to nail down as it was changing by the hour overnight. She said, “Every few hours last night, it was like a different world.”
Passenger Diana Cruz, who was traveling with her three young daughters, expressed gratitude that everyone survived the crash after such a scary ordeal. “Just sort of happy that we’re all safe now that we have found out about it,” she said.
The chaos onboard was palpable. Jack Cabot described the atmosphere during and after the collision: “It was just chaos in there. Everybody was hunkered down and everybody was screaming pretty quickly.”
Frontier Airlines pilots weighed in on their response after seeing the incident happen live. One pilot stated, “That, that wasn’t good to watch,” before offering reassurance with another remark: “Nah man, you did the best you could.”
Air Traffic Control Details
The timeline of events that transpired before the collision is a cause for concern over the air traffic control procedures at LaGuardia Airport. The fire truck requested permission to cross runway 4 at 11:36 p.m. ET and received clearance shortly thereafter. Confusion between air traffic control and emergency responders likely played a role in the quick escalation of circumstances. This disconnect between agencies came to life in tragic ways.
The controller’s last-minute instruction for the fire truck to stop was just a few seconds before the crash happened. This timeline will be at the heart of any criminal investigation as lawmakers look into whether standard operating procedures were abided by.
Capt. Jason Ambrosi, president of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), said his union sent its deepest sympathies to those impacted by the accident. He thanked the pilots for their commitment to carrying people home safely, adding, “We are all keeping their families, loved ones, and colleagues at Jazz Aviation in our thoughts during this heartbreaking time.”
Runway Closure and Ongoing Investigations
Now LaGuardia Airport officials have announced that the 4 runway will remain completely closed until 7am Friday. As a result of the incident outlined above, investigators are currently working intensively on the ground. The closure is meant to allow time for all evidence concerning the crash to be closely examined.
Civil and criminal investigations have been increasing. Both U.S. and Canadian agencies will scrutinize every aspect of the incident, with special attention paid to the exchange between air traffic control and ground crews.
