An Air Canada plane operated by the regional carrier Jazz Aviation crashed into a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Sunday night.
The New York Port Authority told Business Insider that two pilots on the Bombardier CRJ-900 airliner died; 39 passengers were transported to the hospital, though many have been released.
Audio tapes from ATC Live reveal the moments before and after the collision.
According to the tapes, the CRJ900 had been given clearance to land on Runway 4 shortly before the air traffic controller gave clearance to a fire vehicle to cross the same runway at about 11:37 p.m. local time.
The truck had been responding to an odor reported on a United Airlines flight.
A few seconds later, the controller can be heard frantically telling the truck to “stop,” per the tapes. “Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop… Stop truck 1. Stop!”
Shortly after, the controller is heard telling another plane about to land on Runway 4 to abort their landing and go around.
The controller can then be heard calling the pilots on the Air Canada plane: “Jazz 646, Jazz 646, I see you collided with a vehicle there, just hold position, I know you can’t move,” they said. “Vehicles are responding to you now.”
Flightradar24 data shows the deceleration speed after landing was gradual until the collision, when it abruptly decreased, and the plane went off path.
Flightradar24
Other individuals on the airfield can be heard asking about the status of the runway.
The controller confirmed that Runway 4/22 (22 is the runway name when used in the opposite direction) was closed and began directing other planes around the collision.
About 20 minutes after the collision, on a separate frequency, another person on the airfield can be heard telling the controller, “That wasn’t good to watch.”
“Yeah, I know, I was here,” the controller said. “I tried to reach out to my staff, and we were dealing with an emergency earlier; I messed up.”
“Nah, man, you did the best you could,” the person responded, per the tapes.
Officials said LaGuardia would remain closed until at least 2 p.m. ET on Monday, and photos showed the CRJ’s cockpit tilted up and crushed.
Flightradar24 shows that about 20 flights bound for LaGuardia after the collision were diverted; about 600 on Monday morning have been canceled.
Aviation safety analysts have long warned about planes colliding on runways and in congested airspace amid ATC shortages, dated technology, and increasing flight volumes.
A week before the collision at LaGuardia, an Alaska Airlines plane and a FedEx cargo plane nearly crashed when attempting to land at crossing runways at nearby Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on March 17.
An American Airlines plane collided midair with a military helicopter in January 2025, killing 67 people.
