Two Pilots Killed as Air Canada Express Jet Strikes ARFF Vehicle at LaGuardia Airport

NEW YORK — The pilot and co-pilot of an Air Canada Express flight were killed late on March 22, 2026, when their arriving commuter jet collided with an aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle on an active runway at LaGuardia Airport. The collision caused serious injuries to emergency personnel and prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to halt all flight operations at the New York transportation hub.

Operating on behalf of Air Canada Express, Jazz Aviation Flight 8646, a Bombardier CRJ-900LR, was completing a scheduled flight from Montreal with 72 passengers and four crew members on board. According to automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data provided by Flightradar24, the aircraft touched down on Runway 4 at approximately 11:37 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on March 22, 2026.

During its landing roll, the aircraft struck a heavy Port Authority of New York and New Jersey firefighting vehicle that was traversing the runway. The impact occurred while the aircraft was traveling at approximately 24 mph, according to Flightradar24 telemetry.

The kinetic energy of the collision caused catastrophic damage to the CRJ-900. Photographs from the scene show the nose and cockpit section of the fuselage completely destroyed, shifting the aircraft's center of gravity and causing it to tip backward onto its tail empennage. The firefighting vehicle, which operates with a gross vehicle weight rating exceeding 60,000 pounds, was knocked onto its side.

According to statements from the Port Authority and reporting by the Associated Press, the two flight deck crew members of the CRJ-900 sustained fatal injuries. Two Port Authority police officers operating the emergency vehicle suffered serious injuries, including broken limbs, and were transported to a local hospital in stable condition. Additional injuries among the cabin crew and passengers have been reported, with preliminary reports indicating a flight attendant was ejected from the aircraft upon impact but survived.

Air traffic control audio recordings capture the moments leading up to the fatal runway incursion. The LaGuardia tower controller cleared the emergency vehicle, identified as "Truck 1," to cross Runway 4 at Taxiway Delta. The vehicle was actively responding to a separate incident involving a United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX that had aborted its takeoff roll due to an anti-ice system indication and a reported odor in the cabin.

Seconds after clearing the truck to cross the active runway, the controller recognized the impending conflict with the landing CRJ-900. The controller urgently transmitted, "Stop Truck 1, stop, stop, stop," but the collision could not be averted.

The Federal Aviation Administration immediately issued a ground stop for LaGuardia, diverting at least 18 inbound flights to alternative regional airports and forcing the cancellation of subsequent departures. The Port Authority confirmed the airport would remain closed through the afternoon of March 23, 2026, to facilitate the emergency response and runway clearance.

The National Transportation Safety Board announced the immediate deployment of a specialized "go-team" to New York to lead the federal investigation into the collision. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy is serving as the on-scene spokesperson. The investigation is expected to focus heavily on air traffic control protocols, situational awareness, and the coordination between ground emergency operations and active runway environments.

Runway incursions have been a matter of intense scrutiny for both the NTSB and the FAA in recent years, prompting multiple safety summits and calls for upgraded surface surveillance technologies at major U.S. airports. Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) units operate under strict FAA Part 139 regulations, which require rapid response times to any aircraft emergency. At congested hubs like LaGuardia, traversing active taxiways and runways is a routine but highly coordinated maneuver requiring explicit air traffic control clearance. The breakdown in this coordination will likely form the core of the NTSB's factual report.

The aircraft involved, registered as C-GNJZ, is a 20-year-old twin-engine regional jet originally manufactured by Bombardier and delivered to Jazz Aviation in 2005. Jazz Aviation issued a statement confirming the incident and passenger count, noting that the company is cooperating fully with federal investigators.