Late Sunday night, on March 22, 2026, a fatal collision occurred at New York’s LaGuardia Airport when an arriving Air Canada Express flight collided with a fire-and-rescue vehicle on a runway,. The aircraft, a CRJ-900 operated by Jazz Aviation, had just arrived from Montreal and was decelerating on Runway 4 at approximately 11:40 p.m. when it struck the emergency vehicle,.The impact resulted in the deaths of both pilots, who were Canadian nationals,. Additionally, dozens of people were injured; officials reported that 41 individuals were transported to hospitals, including 39 from the aircraft and two firefighters from the truck,. While many were released shortly after treatment, several suffered serious injuries, including broken bones, bruises, and one reported brain bleed,. One flight attendant was found still strapped to her seat after falling through a severed opening in the aircraft.The collision happened as air traffic control was managing a separate emergency involving a United Airlines flight that had reported an odor in the cabin,. Recordings from air traffic control reveal that the fire-rescue vehicle was initially cleared to cross the runway before a controller urgently told it to stop seconds later,. Following the accident, the controller was heard on the radio acknowledging the error, stating, "I messed up" while explaining that the staff was dealing with the earlier emergency,.In the immediate aftermath, LaGuardia Airport was closed to all operations,. A ground stop remained in effect until 2 p.m. the following Monday, leading to the cancellation of over 500 flights and widespread travel disruptions,,. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has launched a "go team" to investigate the crash, a process expected to take 12 to 18 months to complete,. Investigators are focusing on the communication breakdown, reviewing flight data recorders, and determining if the controller was working alone at the time,.This event follows a reported history of near-misses and runway incursions at LaGuardia, a complex airport known for its intersecting runways and high traffic volume,. Previous safety data indicates multiple instances where aircraft and ground vehicles came dangerously close, including a 2015 incident where a plane came within 180 feet of snow plows. Experts have noted that the March 22 collision is particularly unusual because it involved emergency equipment being on an active runway during a landing.

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