Two people were killed when an Air Canada passenger plane collided with a fire truck on a LaGuardia Airport runway at LaGuardia Airport in New York early Monday morning.
13 people were hospitalized with injuries, including 11 passengers and two first responders, officials briefed on the situation told FWRD AXIS News.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey reported that a Jazz Aviation flight, operating on behalf of Air Canada, collided with a Port Authority vehicle responding to a separate incident around 11:40 p.m.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was a Bombardier CRJ-900 twin-jet aircraft flown by Air Canada Express, also known as Jazz Aviation, from Montreal.
Jazz Aviation reported that Flight 8646 had 72 passengers and four crew members on board, but this number was based on the preliminary passenger list. Port Authority described the truck as an aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. Preliminary information appeared to show that the flight had landed on Runway 4 and was rolling down the runway when the collision occurred.
The airport was closed, and flights will not take off or land at LaGuardia until 2 p.m. Monday at the earliest, according to the FAA.
The NYPD advised the public to steer clear of the vicinity of LaGuardia Airport, anticipating local disruptions. All streets and highways leading to the airport are currently closed.
According to audio recordings, the ground vehicle had requested permission and was cleared by the air traffic controller to cross Runway 4 at taxiway Delta. Shortly after, permission was granted, and an air traffic controller was heard instructing the vehicle to stop several times just before the collision.
