On Mar 22nd 2026, a routine landing turned into a catastrophic disaster when a Jazz Aviation Canadair CRJ-900, registration C-GNJZ, operating flight AC-8646 from Montreal to LaGuardia Airport, collided with an airport fire truck while landing, resulting in multiple fatalities and dozens of injuries.
The aircraft, carrying 72 passengers and 4 crew, had been cleared to land on runway 04. At the same time, emergency services were responding to a separate situation involving a United Airlines flight that had reported an odor on board at the gate. Fire truck #1 requested permission to cross runway 04 at taxiway D and was granted clearance by air traffic control.
Moments later, controllers urgently attempted to stop the vehicle, repeatedly shouting “Stop! Stop! #1 Stop! Fire #1 Stop!”—but it was too late. At 23:36 local time, the CRJ-900, rolling out after touchdown, collided with the fire truck on the runway. The aircraft skidded off the runway centerline, continuing onto a high-speed exit before coming to a stop.
The accident claimed the lives of both the captain and first officer. Two firefighters aboard the truck sustained serious injuries, along with nine passengers, while an additional 32 passengers suffered minor injuries.
The airport was immediately closed following the collision, halting operations as emergency responders and investigators secured the scene.
The National Transportation Safety Board launched an intensive investigation, recovering both the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR). Analysis of the recordings has provided a chilling, second-by-second reconstruction of the final moments before impact.
Data shows the approach was stable, with the crew completing all required landing procedures. Just over a minute before touchdown, the aircraft was fully configured and cleared to land. At approximately 25 seconds before impact, the fire truck requested clearance to cross the runway and was approved. The truck read back the clearance as the aircraft descended through its final approach.
Only nine seconds before the end of the recording, the tower issued a desperate command to stop the vehicle. The aircraft touched down seconds later. In the final moments, control of the aircraft was transferred from the first officer to the captain, but the collision could not be avoided.
Investigators also revealed that a radio transmission from another airport vehicle may have been stepped on moments before the crossing clearance, raising concerns about possible communication interference. Additionally, the fire truck involved did not have a transponder, limiting its visibility on ground radar systems. The airport’s ASDE-X surface monitoring system did not generate any alerts, despite multiple targets being present near the crossing point.
At the time of the incident, only two controllers were managing all tower operations, which was standard procedure for the midnight shift. Questions are now being raised about workload, situational awareness, and whether additional staffing or safeguards could have prevented the tragedy.
The sequence of events underscores how a chain of small factors—radio congestion, limited visibility of ground vehicles, and timing—can align with devastating consequences in a high-risk environment.
As the investigation continues, the focus remains on understanding how a landing clearance and a runway crossing clearance were allowed to converge within seconds—turning a routine arrival into one of the most serious runway collisions in recent aviation history.