Two pilots killed after Air Canada jet hits fire truck on LaGuardia runway

A tragic collision between an Air Canada Express regional jet and a Port Authority fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport late Sunday night has left two pilots dead and dozens of others injured. The incident occurred at approximately 11:37 p.m. ET as the aircraft, a Bombardier CRJ-900 operated by Jazz Aviation, was landing on Runway 4 after a flight from Montreal.

According to flight tracking data, the aircraft struck the emergency vehicle at a speed of about 24 miles per hour (39 kph). The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed that the fire truck was responding to a separate, unrelated incident at the time of the impact. While the pilot and co-pilot were killed, the 72 passengers and two remaining crew members faced varying degrees of injuries. On the ground, a police sergeant and an officer manning the truck were hospitalized in stable condition with broken limbs.

The collision caused significant damage to the nose of the aircraft and forced an immediate, total closure of LaGuardia Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expects the airfield to remain shut until at least 2 p.m. ET on Monday, as investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) begin their recovery and analysis of the scene. In the meantime, at least 18 flights have been diverted to neighboring airports or returned to their points of origin.

Travelers in the New York area are being warned of widespread cancellations, road closures, and significant traffic delays surrounding the airport perimeter. Air Canada and its partner Jazz Aviation have acknowledged the incident, though official comments from federal safety agencies are still pending as they work to determine how the runway incursion occurred.