Xinhua
23 Mar 2026

NEW YORK, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Two pilots were killed and dozens of others injured as an Air Canada Express flight collided with a fire truck when landing at New York's LaGuardia Airport late Sunday.

The plane, carrying 72 passengers and four crew members from Montreal, struck a fire truck from the Port Authority that was responding to a separate incident, said Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Authorities confirmed that the pilot and copilot were killed, and about 40 passengers and crew members were taken to local hospitals, some with serious injuries.

Two Port Authority employees who were traveling in the fire truck also suffered injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening, Garcia said.

Jazz Aviation, Air Canada's regional partner, confirmed the incident in a statement, saying it occurred at approximately 11:47 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday when its Flight AC8646 was en route to New York from Montreal.

A video posted on social media shows a passenger jet on the runway with its cockpit high and the underside of its forward fuselage mangled.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a ground stop for all planes at the airport shortly after the collision. The airport will remain closed until at least 2 p.m. local time (1800 GMT) Monday to facilitate the investigation, it said.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was deploying a team of experts to investigate the incident, according to the agency.

Teams from Air Canada and Jazz Aviation were headed to New York to cooperate with both the NTSB and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada in the investigation.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday morning he was on the way to the airport "in response to last night's horrific crash."

The FAA and NTSB "are working closely on this," Duffy said on X.

The crash was "deeply saddening," Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on X, adding that Canadian officials were working with the United States as the investigation into the collision continued.

"My thoughts are with the victims, their families, and all those impacted," he wrote.