LaGuardia Airport reopened for limited service around 2 p.m. Monday, as authorities worked to make sense of a deadly collision between a landing Air Canada plane and a Port Authority emergency vehicle the night before.
Audio captured by the volunteer-based website LiveATC.net shows an air traffic controller at LaGuardia Airport’s tower initially told a truck to cross the runway late Sunday, but then told the driver to “stop” at the last minute before the crash. The collision killed the plane's two pilots, injured dozens of other people and shut down the busy hub throughout morning travel.
Officials said the mishap happened about 11:40 p.m. as first responders at the airport rushed to respond to another United Airlines plane that declared an emergency on the tarmac because of an odor inside its cabin. A responding aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle drove into the runway where the Air Canada plane was landing, officials said.
The wreckage was visible from the airport’s terminals Monday morning. The plane was titled upward and the cockpit was completely destroyed. Debris from the front of the aircraft spilled out onto the runway.
Authorities did not immediately disclose the names of the pilots who died.
The tragedy added to chaos that had already upended air travel at all three of New York City’s major airports, which have for days been suffering from long security lines as funding for the Transportation Security Administration remained in limbo from the ongoing partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.
Monday also marked the first day President Donald Trump deployed ICE agents to airports across the country to help with the large crowds, including at LaGuardia, where Gothamist observed several officers patrolling Terminal B.
According to Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia, the National Transportation Safety Board arrived on scene to investigate the crash.
Garcia said the plane that crashed was Air Canada Flight 8646, but was operated by the regional carrier Jazz Aviation, and was landing at the airport after taking off from Montreal. Officials said the collision occurred on Runway 4 of the airport while the Air Canada plane was landing.
The flight carried 72 passengers and four crew members, according to the Port Authority. The rescue vehicle carried two people.
Officials said 41 passengers and crew on the Air Canada plane and the two officers in the Port Authority vehicle were transported to local hospitals. As of Monday morning, 32 people had been released, according to Garcia.
“But there are also serious injuries,” she said at a news conference.
The two Port Authority officers in the truck were in stable condition, she added.
Air Canada said the plane involved in the crash was a Mitsubishi CRJ-900, and teams from both that airline and Jazz Aviation were preparing to deploy to LaGuardia.
“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,” Air Canada said in a statement.
Air Canada and Jazz Aviation said they were cooperating with investigators to learn more about the cause of the crash.
"Today is an incredibly difficult day for our airline, our employees and most importantly, the families and loved ones of those affected by the accident involving Flight 8646," Jazz Aviation president Doug Clarke said in a statement. "We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of our two pilots and our unwavering support to those who have been injured."
Flight boards at LaGuardia Airport show canceled flights on March 23, 2026.
The audio recordings from LaGuardia’s air traffic control tower captured by LiveATC.net show communications between the Port Authority vehicle and a controller in the tower leading up to the crash. The platform is powered by a network of volunteers who monitor and post recordings of aircraft communications.
In the audio feed, the tower controller initially appears to tell the Port Authority vehicle to cross Runway 4, but then quickly changes the directive.
“Stop, stop, stop, stop, Truck One, stop, stop, stop,” the controller then says in the recording. After this, the controller begins orchestrating a response to the crash, according to the audio.
LaGuardia was at a standstill for hours Monday morning, with flight boards showing dozens of canceled flights. Some travelers said they had not heard about the crash until after they arrived at the airport, and were trying to rebook their flights.
Travelers wait at LaGuardia Airport with hundreds of flights canceled on March 23, 2026.
Suzanne Davidson said she woke up at 4 a.m. Monday to get to the airport to catch her flight back to Canada, but discovered the operations were frozen.
“I didn’t even look at the news on the cab ride over here. I was just focused on getting here,” Davidson, a 43-year-old mother visiting New York from the Toronto area, told Gothamist as she sat on the airport floor. “I was freaking out because I'm supposed to pick my daughter up from school at 4 o’clock today.”
She said she was able to make arrangements for her daughter’s father to pick up their child, but she was still figuring out how to spend her day with her luggage in tow.
“I was just heartbroken for the pilots,” Davidson said. “These pilots, they can’t parent their children anymore. My problems are nothing. It’s just heartbreaking, really. I just want to say my hearts go out to those families.”
Fort Lauderdale resident Smaily Nunez, 27, said his early-morning flight back home had been canceled.
“Right now I'm looking into changing my flight because the one flight that they offered for me is not until the afternoon at 2 or 3:30 p.m. and also has a stop in Tennessee, so I'm not trying to do that,” Nunez said.
“Of course, it freaks me out,” Nunez said of the crash. “I’m just hoping that I can get home and that everybody’s safe.”
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association union declined to comment, citing the ongoing probe.
Security check areas were empty at LaGuardia Airport following the Air Canada crash.
FlightAware, a global flight tracker, showed more than 600 flight cancellations into and out of the airport as of Monday afternoon — a little more than half of the air traffic scheduled for the day.
Top elected officials in the region, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, said their administrations were in close contact with the agencies working on the investigation, and expressed condolences for the victims of the crash.
Air Canada said it set up a phone line to provide assistance for friends and family of passengers on the flight: 800-961-7099.
New York City Emergency Management said a family center had been set up at the airport’s Terminal B. The agency said travelers should expect a “heavy presence of emergency personnel and vehicles, road closures, traffic delays near the airport, and flight cancellations.”
Port Authority and emergency management officials encouraged travelers to check with their airlines for the latest flight information before heading out.
Newark Airport also experienced a ground stop on Monday morning after its air traffic control tower was temporarily evacuated around 7:30 a.m. because of a burning smell coming from an elevator, according to the FAA. Personnel returned to the tower about an hour later, the agency said, and operations returned to normal.
This is a developing story based on preliminary information from officials and will be updated.
