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 indicates that the fire truck crew involved in the LaGuardia ground collision did not realize the initial "stop" orders from air traffic control were directed at their vehicle.
A significant contributing factor was that the airport's runway entrance lights (RELs), which are designed to prevent runway incursions, were turned off at the time of the incident.
Despite the controller's frantic instructions, the fire truck proceeded onto Runway 4, colliding with a landing CRJ-900, which resulted in the deaths of the aircraft's two pilots and multiple injuries among passengers and crew.

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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.