NTSB: Airport Truck Missed Warnings Before Fatal LaGuardia Collision

Early findings highlight moment of confusion before fatal accident.

Meg Godlewski

Friday, April 24, 2026 at 02:43 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Zach Vasile

National Transportation Safety Board investigators arrive at LaGuardia Airport’s Runway 4 following the fatal collision between a passenger jet and fire truck. [Credit: NTSB]

Key Takeaways:

The NTSB preliminary report revealed that the fire truck crew involved in the LaGuardia runway collision did not initially realize that air traffic controller's frantic "stop" orders were directed at them.
A critical safety feature, the airport's runway entrance lights (RELs) designed to prevent runway incursions, were turned off at the time of the incident.
The collision occurred after both the fire truck (initially cleared to cross Runway 4) and an arriving CRJ-900 airplane (cleared to land on the same runway) proceeded towards an intersection, leading to the deaths of two pilots and injuries to 39 other individuals.

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The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report on the deadly ground collision between an airport fire truck and a CRJ-900 airplane at LaGuardia Airport (KLGA) in March reveals the occupants of the truck did not realize that an air traffic controller’s frantic orders to stop were directed at them.

In addition, the airport’s runway entrance lights (REL) were turned off.