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Two Air Canada pilots are dead after their flight originating from Montreal collided with a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport Sunday night.
The flight with Jazz Aviation, Air Canada’s regional airline, was carrying 76 people when it touched down and slammed into a fire truck on a runway at around 11:30 p.m.
Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, said the 72 passengers and four crew have been accounted for.
However, the two pilots – who were based out of Canada – died, she told reporters early Monday morning.
Garcia said 41 people were taken to two hospitals in Queens and 32 were eventually released. Nine remained in care, including some in serious condition, she said.
Two Port Authority employees travelling in the fire truck suffered non-life-threatening injuries, she added.
The flight originated from Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. A fire truck was crossing Runway 4 in response to a separate incident involving a United Airlines flight when it was hit. Garcia said that issue was related to an odour on takeoff.
“The airport is currently closed to facilitate the response and allow for a thorough investigation. This is a developing situation based on preliminary information,” LaGuardia said in a post on X Monday morning.
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“The Port Authority Police Department is working closely with our airline partners as well as federal authorities and will provide additional updates as more details become available.”
It will remain closed until 2 p.m. while the National Transportation Safety Board investigates, it later added.
Air Canada said in a statement Monday that Flight 8646 was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members, though it was subject to confirmation.
“The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed that the pilot and the first officer were killed in this accident. We are deeply saddened by the loss of two Jazz employees, and our deepest condolences go out to the entire Jazz community and their families,” the airline said.
“Air Canada and Jazz Aviation are cooperating with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada and the National Transportation Safety Board in the United States in the investigation of the cause of this incident.”
Doug Clarke, president of Jazz Aviation, said in a statement that it’s an “incredibly difficult day” for the airline.
“As the investigation unfolds, we are fully committed to cooperating with the relevant authorities to determine what happened,” he said.
“We will share updates as soon as verified information becomes available. We will continue to provide our full support in the days and weeks ahead.”
Photos from the scene showed severe damage to the front of the aircraft, with cables and debris hanging from a mangled cockpit. Nearby, a damaged emergency vehicle was on its side.
Stairways used to evacuate passengers from aircraft were pushed up to the emergency exits on the jet, a Mitsubishi CRJ-900. The impact left the jet with its crumpled nose tilted upward.
The Associated Press reported that in the moments before the crash, an air traffic controller could be heard on a radio transmission giving clearance to a vehicle to cross part of the tarmac, then trying to stop it. The controller was heard frantically diverting incoming aircraft from landing afterwards.
— with files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press
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