NEW YORK (AP) — An Air Canada jet carrying more than 70 passengers collided with a fire truck while landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport late Sunday, killing the pilot and copilot and injuring several others, officials said.
The fire truck was crossing the tarmac just before midnight after being given permission to check on another plane reporting an odor onboard. Before the collision, an air traffic controller can be heard on airport communications frantically telling the fire truck to stop.
Roughly 20 minutes later, the controller appears to blame himself. “We were dealing with an emergency earlier,” the controller said. “I messed up.”
About 40 passengers and crew members on the regional jet from Montreal, and two people from the fire truck, were taken to hospitals, some with serious injuries. Most were released by Monday morning, authorities said.
The impact crushed the plane’s nose, leaving cables and debris dangling from the mangled cockpit. Images from the crash site showed the fire truck flipped onto its side, with most of the damage to its back half.
A key for investigators will be examining coordination of the airport’s air traffic and ground traffic at the time of the crash, said Mary Schiavo, a former Department of Transportation Inspector General. “I don’t know how many wake-up calls the (Federal Aviation Administration) needs, but this has been happening for years and sadly some of the most horrific air crashes in history happen on the ground at the airport.”
The crash shut down LaGuardia — the New York region’s third busiest hub — until at least Monday afternoon, during what was already a messy time at U.S. airports because of a partial government shutdown.
More than 600 flights had been canceled at LaGuardia by midday, according to FlightAware.com. The shutdown was causing some disruptions at other airports, too, especially for Delta, which has a major presence at LaGuardia.
Passenger says they helped each other escape the plane
Passenger Rebecca Liquori said the plane hit turbulence while descending, and she then felt it brake hard and heard a loud boom.
“Everybody just jolted out of their seats. People hit their heads. People were bleeding,” Liquori told News12 Long Island, a station where she once worked.
Liquori, who said she helped open the emergency exit door, recalled passengers helping each other slide down a wing to get out.
“I’m just happy to be alive,” said Liquori, who had gone to Montreal for a cousin’s baby shower. “I would have never pictured a one-hour flight that I’ve done countless times … ending like this.”
U.S. and Canada sending investigators to New York
The pilot and copilot who died were both based out of Canada, said Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.
The airport will remain closed until at least early Monday afternoon during the investigation, which is being led by the National Transportation Safety Board. Canada also sent a team of investigators.
President Donald Trump called it a “terrible” situation. “They made a mistake,” he told reporters. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement the accident was “deeply saddening.”
The fire truck was traveling across the runway to respond to a separate incident aboard a United Airlines flight, whose pilot had reported “an issue with odor,” said Garcia.
