By Obinna Uballa
A Jazz Aviation-operated Air Canada Express plane collided with a fire truck late Sunday on a runway at LaGuardia Airport in New York, United States, leading to a temporary suspension of flights at the busy airport.
The CRJ-900 aircraft, arriving from Montreal as flight AC8646, struck the emergency vehicle on Runway 4 around 11:40 p.m. Sunday (0340 GMT Monday) while the truck was responding to a separate incident, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey reported.
AFP photographs showed the plane’s nose and cockpit heavily damaged, with emergency personnel surrounding the aircraft. Authorities have not confirmed if any of the 72 passengers and four crew members, or the fire crew, sustained injuries.
Flight tracking service FlightRadar24 indicated the plane “was rolling down the runway when it struck” the rescue vehicle as it crossed its path.
In response, all flights at LaGuardia were grounded to allow emergency crews to respond and investigate the incident. The Port Authority described the disruption as likely to be prolonged.
New York’s emergency management authority warned residents and travelers of expected flight cancellations, road closures, and traffic delays near the airport, urging alternate routes.
LaGuardia, located in Queens, had already experienced delays due to poor weather and staffing issues caused by a federal funding lapse. The airport, which handled 33.5 million passengers in 2024, completed an $8 billion redevelopment in 2024, upgrading its terminals and roadways.
This incident adds to a series of recent aviation accidents and near misses in the U.S., including a January 2025 collision between a passenger plane and an army helicopter near Washington that killed 67 people.
