April 23, 2026, 3:51 p.m. ET
A plane-vehicle collision at LaGuardia Airport on March 22 resulted in the deaths of two pilots and multiple injuries, according to a preliminary report released Thursday.
The incident involved a Jazz Aviation airplane landing at 104 miles per hour that struck an emergency vehicle crossing the runway. Six individuals sustained serious injuries, while 33 others reported minor injuries, as confirmed by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Witnesses reported that the Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE-X) used in the control tower could not identify the emergency vehicles, which lacked transponders. This failure contributed to the absence of a warning for controllers regarding a potential runway conflict.
The airplane, operating as an Air Canada flight, was cleared for landing at 11:35 p.m. Emergency vehicles were responding to an incident near Terminal B when they requested to cross the runway at 11:36 p.m., just prior to the collision.
At 11:37 p.m., the air traffic controller cleared the emergency vehicles to cross before issuing a stop command shortly afterward. The truck’s driver initially misunderstood the instructions and only recognized the stop command after entering the runway.
Two air traffic controllers on duty had extensive experience, with the controller directing the plane and truck having 18 years in the role. The NTSB will release a final report on the incident later, which may take nearly a year.
Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia stated that no updates to emergency vehicle equipment have been made since the crash, emphasizing the importance of learning from the investigation.