One of the nation’s busiest airports, New York City’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA), was completely shut down for around eight hours on Monday after an Air Canada regional passenger jet collided with an airport fire truck on the runway late Sunday night, killing the two pilots and injuring dozens of passengers.
More than 600 flights scheduled to depart or land at LaGuardia were canceled on Monday, according to Cirium, the aviation data analytics firm, forcing the main airlines serving the airfield to scramble to reaccommodate passengers on other flights.
Delta Air Lines, a major tenant at the recently expanded airport, said in a statement that it was working to rebook fliers and that it might shift some customers to other airports in the metro area, including New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) in New Jersey, and New York’s Westchester County Airport (HPN).
While LaGuardia had reopened by midafternoon, the effects were expected to linger into the week. At a news conference on Monday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy acknowledged that LGA will be operating at a “reduced capacity” as the wreckage is still on the runway. Some passengers were reportedly told by the airlines that their plans might have to be delayed by several days.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) dispatched a team of investigators to the scene to collect evidence and interview witnesses. What is already known is that the accident, which occurred in rainy conditions late Sunday night, involved a CRJ-900 regional jet flying under the colors of Air Canada’s Jazz Aviation partner that was arriving from Montreal carrying 72 passengers and four crew. As it landed, it collided with an airport firefighting vehicle which was responding to reports of fumes on another aircraft that had aborted takeoff. The nose of the plane was crushed when it collided with the truck.
In a statement, the NTSB said that the probe would be led by Jennifer Homendy, who had a prominent role in investigating the crash in early 2025 of an American Airlines commuter plane and a military helicopter at Reagan National Airport in D.C. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will send a team to assist, Duffy said at the briefing.
While the circumstances are different, there are some troubling similarities between the crash at LaGuardia and last year’s deadly crash in D.C., especially as both involve communications between air traffic controllers and aircraft, according to William J. McGee, a senior fellow for aviation and travel at the American Economic Liberties Project. A much-touted air traffic control overhaul announced last year has yet to get off the ground, he said. Duffy did tell reporters on Monday that the LGA tower is “well staffed” and is just four positions short of an optimum staffing level of 37 controllers.
While the NTSB cautions against jumping to conclusions early after a crash—a preliminary report is typically released about 30 days after an accident—the air traffic control tapes are almost always available in the immediate aftermath. In this case, the recording shows that as the Air Canada Jazz plane was about to land, a controller on duty was heard ordering the firefighting vehicle that was speeding to the other jet to stop, and repeated that order when it was clear that did not happen.
