The United States Federal Aviation Administration has temporarily shut down the LaGuardia Airport in New York after an Air Canada passenger plane collided with a Port Authority fire truck, killing at least two people.
According to NBC News, the collision occurred late Sunday night when the CRJ-900 aircraft, which was on a flight from Montreal to LaGuardia, slammed into a fire truck, which was responding to a separate incident, killing both the pilot and the co-pilot.
Reports noted that more than a dozen of the passengers onboard suffered varying degrees of injuries. Air Canada said its preliminary passenger list indicated that the plane was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members.
Subsequently, the FAA issued a ground stop, suspending flights into or out of LaGuardia Airport until 2:00 p.m. on Monday as emergency crews swarmed the damaged jet on a runway.
The New York Police Department has also announced the closure of all roads leading to the airport until further notice.
“Due to an emergency incident at LaGuardia Airport, all streets and highway exits into the airport are closed until further notice. Expect delays and avoid the area if possible,” the NYPD said in a post on X on Monday.
Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board tweeted that it was dispatching a team to investigate the incident.
“The NTSB is launching a go team to investigate the March 22 Jazz Aviation, Air Canada Express Flight 8646, CRJ900, airplane that collided with a fire truck on Runway 4 at LaGuardia Airport in New York, NY.
“Chair Jennifer Homendy will serve as the on-scene spokesperson, accompanied by Member John DeLeeuw,” the agency said.
