LaGuardia Collision Kills 2 Pilots, Closes Airport

Air traffic control recordings show a fire truck was cleared to enter Runway 4, where it collided with a landing Air Canada jet.

Zach Vasile

Monday, March 23, 2026 at 10:50 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

An Air Canada CRJ-900 [Shutterstock/Minh K Tran]

Key Takeaways:

An Air Canada regional jet collided with a fire truck while landing at LaGuardia Airport, resulting in the deaths of both pilots and injuring dozens of others from both the aircraft and the fire truck.
The incident occurred after Air Traffic Control (ATC) initially cleared the fire truck to cross the runway but then urgently tried to stop it just before impact.
An ATC controller admitted "I messed up" following the collision, which led to the closure of LaGuardia Airport and numerous flight diversions.
The FAA and NTSB are investigating the accident, with potential ATC staffing levels being a factor under consideration.

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Two pilots were killed and dozens of others injured late Sunday night when an Air Canada regional jet hit a fire truck while landing at LaGuardia Airport (KLGA) in New York.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates LaGuardia, said the flight’s pilot and copilot were killed. Forty-one other people, 39 from the Air Canada Bombardier CRJ-900, and two from the firefighting vehicle, were reported injured and taken to area hospitals.