A catastrophic ground collision at a busy New York airport has left two pilots dead and dozens injured after a regional jet struck an airport fire vehicle that had entered the runway.
On Mar 22nd 2026, a Air Canada Jazz Bombardier CRJ-900, registration C-GNJZ, operating flight AC-8646 from Montreal to LaGuardia Airport, had been cleared to land on runway 04.
At the same time, another aircraft approaching the airport had declared an emergency due to an odor onboard, prompting emergency services to respond. Amid the urgency, a fire truck—identified as Fire #1—requested and received clearance to cross runway 04 at taxiway D.
Moments later, the situation escalated dramatically. Air traffic control urgently transmitted “Stop! Stop! Fire #1 Stop!” but the warning came too late. As the CRJ-900 was rolling out after landing at approximately 23:36 local time (03:36Z Mar 23rd), it collided with the fire truck on the runway.
Following the impact, the aircraft continued for about 130 meters (430 feet), skidding onto a high-speed exit before coming to a stop on taxiway E.
The accident resulted in the deaths of both the captain and first officer. Two firefighters onboard the vehicle sustained serious injuries. Among the passengers, 9 suffered serious injuries and 32 sustained minor injuries, underscoring the severity of the collision.
Emergency response operations immediately shut down the airport, which remained closed as investigators began their work. Authorities indicated the airport would not reopen before at least 14:00 local time the following day.
The National Transportation Safety Board deployed a team to the scene and, during a press conference on the evening of March 23rd, confirmed that both the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) had been recovered. Analysis of the recorders was scheduled to begin on March 24th as investigators work to reconstruct the sequence of events.
The tragedy highlights the extreme complexity and risks of coordinating aircraft and ground vehicle movements during emergency situations, particularly on active runways, where seconds can determine the outcome.