NEW YORK (WABC) — Passengers on board the flight from Montreal arriving at LaGuardia described the terrifying moments when their plane collided with a fire truck late Sunday night.
This was the last thing they expected as they made it to their destination safely, only for a deadly collision to take place between the Air Canada jet and a Port Authority fire truck.
This crash claimed the life of the pilot and the co-pilot of the plane.
An Air Canada Jet sits on the runway at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, after colliding with a Port Authority vehicle in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
At one point, a flight attendant who was in her seat was thrown from the plane. She ended up on the runway and was rushed to the hospital but is expected to survive.
Forty-one people had been taken to the hospital, which included someone they were travelling with whom they said had a broken nose.
“One of our friends was like several rows back from us and like we walked past him on our way out because he was trying to find his glasses and his nose was totally broken and bleeding on his face,” the passenger said. “A lot of people smacked their head against the seat in front of them.”
The front of the regional jet sustained significant damage just moments before 11:40 p.m. Sunday.
As it was rolling down the runway it slammed into that vehicle which was responding to another incident.
“We went down for a regular landing, we came down pretty hard, we immediately hit something, it was chaos from there about five seconds later,” passenger Jack Cabot said. “Everyone was hunkered down, everyone was screaming, we didn’t have any directions because the pilots’ cabin was destroyed. So someone said ‘let’s get the emergency exit, let’s get the door and all jump out’ and that’s exactly what we did.”
An Air Canada Jet sits on the runway at LaGuardia Airport after colliding with a Port Authority aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle after landing. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
The Port Authority provided an update early Monday morning.
“The plane carried 72 passengers and four crew,” said Kathryn Garcia, Executive Director, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. “The AR FF vehicle carried two officers. In accordance with our emergency plan, initial numbers indicate 41 passengers and crew transported to hospital. Thirty-two have been released but there are also serious injuries.”
The NTSB is investigating the crash. The FAA issued a notice that the airport operations will remain suspended until at least 2 p.m. Drivers are urged to avoid the area near the airport.
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