Air Canada Jet Collision Shuts LaGuardia Airport

AP

A pilot and copilot are dead after an Air Canada regional jet struck a firetruck at LaGuardia Airport.

An Air Canada Express jet collided with a fire truck while landing at New York's LaGuardia airport late on Sunday, killing both pilots, injuring ‌dozens and closing the facility, authorities said.

The Air Canada Express CRJ-900 plane, operated by its regional partner Jazz Aviation, was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members and had departed from Montreal, said Jazz, which is owned by Chorus Aviation. Jazz and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed that the pilot and first officer were killed.

The crash comes as U.S. aviation faces chronic shortages of air traffic controllers and a separate shortfall of Transportation Security Administration officers due to a partial government shutdown that has led to delays, long security lines and heightened safety concerns across airports nationwide.

A separate 35-minute ground stop at nearby Newark Liberty International on Monday morning added to delays after air-traffic controllers evacuated their tower because of a burning smell from an elevator, the FAA said.

"Today is an incredibly difficult day for our airline, our employees, and most importantly, the families and loved ones of those affected by the accident involving ⁠flight 8646," said Jazz President Doug Clarke.

Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority, said 32 of the 41 injured had been released, while nine remained in hospital with "serious injuries."

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at least two Port Authority firefighters sustained serious injuries.

Aviation safety experts say investigators would look at air traffic control staffing levels and the actions of both the controller and truck crew.

"The Air Canada jet was obviously cleared to land and from the radio transmissions, it appears that the airport rescue and firefighting vehicle was cleared. There are a lot of questions now regarding the communications," said U.S. safety expert Anthony Brickhouse. "Communication is going to be a major part of this investigation."

Air-crash investigations typically find that accidents result from multiple contributing factors, rather than a single cause.

Garcia said the fire truck was responding to a separate United Airlines aircraft that had "reported an issue with odor." United, along with unions representing U.S. air traffic controllers and Air Canada pilots declined to comment.

Minutes earlier, air traffic control audio from LiveATC.net indicated that a United flight had declared an emergency due to an odor onboard. Controllers advised the crew that fire trucks were already on site.

A later transmission captured a fire truck being cleared to cross Runway 4 at taxiway 'Delta', where the collision occurred.

Moments later, according to the ATC audio, a controller can be heard saying: "Stop, stop, stop, truck 1 stop, truck 1, stop."

The aircraft struck the fire vehicle at ‌a speed ⁠of about 24 miles per hour (39 kph), according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24, which last recorded data at 11:37 p.m. ET (0337 GMT).

Global Aerospace leads the airline's all-risks cover for the Air Canada regional aircraft that was damaged, three senior aviation market sources said.

Those sources said Marsh is the broker for the cover. One of the sources said the aircraft's insured hull value was around $10 million.

Source: Reuters



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