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A flight from Air Canada Express collided on Sunday night with a fire truck on runway 4 at LaGuardia Airport in New York, resulting in at least 2 fatalities and approximately 70 injuries, according to unconfirmed preliminary reports from AP News.
The flight AC 8646, operated by Jazz Aviation aboard a Bombardier CRJ-900, had departed from Montréal-Trudeau International Airport at 10:12 p.m. Eastern time and was in the landing phase when the impact occurred, around 11:38 p.m. The weather conditions were adverse: rain and low clouds.
The airport rescue and firefighting truck (ARFF Truck 1) had received authorization from air traffic control to cross the active runway via taxiway D while the aircraft was approaching. The vehicle was heading to respond to an emergency on a United Airlines flight that had reported a strange odor on board. According to preliminary records, the air traffic controller instructed the truck to stop several times before the collision occurred.
The impact, which occurred when the plane was traveling at approximately 21 knots (about 39 kilometers per hour), caused severe damage to the front of the aircraft: the cockpit and the forward galley were destroyed, and the fuselage was tilted. The 4 crew members sustained serious injuries. At least 8 people are in critical condition, including 4 firefighters, while more than 60 passengers suffered minor injuries.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) immediately issued a total cessation of operations, and LaGuardia Airport was completely closed, with flights diverted to other airports in the region. The New York Police Department (NYPD) confirmed the collision, and the Fire Department (FDNY) responded to the scene. Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) initiated preliminary investigations.
The Associated Press reported: "LaGuardia Airport in New York closes after an Air Canada flight collided with a Port Authority vehicle on the runway."
The accident is considered the first fatal incident for Air Canada in over 40 years and the first of this type recorded for the CRJ-900 model. The aircraft involved, registered as C-GNJZ, is 20 years old and was delivered to Jazz Aviation in 2005.
LaGuardia has a worrying track record of runway incidents. In October 2025, two regional Delta planes collided at low speed on a taxiway, and in May of that same year, a Republic Airways flight aborted takeoff to avoid colliding with a United plane crossing the runway. The FAA reports approximately 30 runway incursions per million operations at LaGuardia, with 22 serious incidents in 2023 and 7 in 2024. The NTSB has not issued preliminary conclusions at the time of this report.
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