Air Canada Express flight collides with fire truck at LaGuardia, killing two pilots

Air Canada Express Flight 8646 collided with a fire truck on LaGuardia Airport’s runway 4 at 11:37 p.m. ET on March 22, 2026, killing both pilots and injuring 43 people including two firefighters. The CRJ-900 aircraft carrying 72 passengers and 4 crew from Montreal struck Port Authority fire truck Truck 1 during landing; the NTSB has retrieved both black boxes and sent them to Washington for analysis. LaGuardia reopened Monday morning but one runway remains closed for investigation, causing TSA delays exceeding one hour on Tuesday.

The runway safety system did not alert before impact, and air traffic control was operating with standard two-person midnight staffing. Travelers with bookings through LaGuardia in the next 48 hours face potential delays or cancellations as the investigation continues.

A survivor’s account of “blood everywhere” during the 12-second collision sequence has emerged from the deadliest LaGuardia Airport incident in recent memory. Air Canada Express Flight 8646 struck a Port Authority fire truck on runway 4 late Sunday night, killing both pilots and leaving passengers to evacuate through a scene one described as their “darkest hour.”

The crash happened at 11:37 p.m. ET on March 22, 2026, when the Jazz Aviation-operated CRJ-900 from Montreal collided with fire truck Truck 1 during landing. Two pilots died — one identified as Antoine Forest — while 43 people sustained injuries, including two firefighters with non-life-threatening wounds. All 72 passengers and the surviving flight attendant evacuated; witnesses reported the attendant was ejected from the aircraft during impact.

LaGuardia closed immediately and reopened at 3:16 a.m. ET Monday, but one runway remains out of service for the National Transportation Safety Board investigation. TSA checkpoint delays exceeded one hour on Tuesday as the airport operates at reduced capacity.

The NTSB has retrieved both the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, shipping them to a Washington laboratory for analysis. Investigators confirmed the runway safety system — designed to alert controllers of vehicle incursions — did not activate before the collision.

What the investigation has found so far

Air traffic control was operating with two staff members on the midnight shift, which the NTSB confirmed meets standard procedure for that time window. The fire truck was responding to a prior incident — a United Airlines aborted takeoff — when Flight 8646 received clearance to land on runway 4.

Passengers praised the pilots’ hard braking in the final seconds before impact, though the aircraft could not avoid the collision. The NTSB’s preliminary timeline shows the fire truck was authorized to cross the runway, but investigators have not yet determined why the safety alert system failed to trigger.

Flight 8646 operates as a regional service between Montreal and New York using the CRJ-900, an 88-seat aircraft common on short-haul routes. Jazz Aviation flies the route under the Air Canada Express brand, competing with American Airlines, Delta, and United on the corridor — all of which maintain service at normal frequencies as of Tuesday.

How runway safety systems are supposed to work

LaGuardia operates under FAA Part 139 certification, which requires annual inspections and adherence to runway incursion prevention protocols. The airport uses a runway safety system designed to alert air traffic controllers when vehicles or aircraft enter an active runway without clearance — but that system did not activate before Flight 8646’s landing.

The fire truck had authorization to cross runway 4 while responding to the earlier United Airlines incident. What remains unclear is whether the clearance was still active when Flight 8646 received landing permission, or whether the safety system malfunctioned. The NTSB’s analysis of the cockpit voice recorder and air traffic control communications will determine the sequence of clearances.

LaGuardia has no recent history of fatal runway collisions involving emergency vehicles. The closest comparable incident — a 2019 taxiway near-miss between Delta and JetBlue aircraft — resulted in procedural changes but no injuries. That event triggered an FAA ground stop and led to enhanced taxiway markings, demonstrating how quickly the agency responds to incursion risks even without fatalities.

Check your booking now if you fly through LaGuardia this week

Runway 4 remains closed with no reopening timeline — the investigation takes priority over airport capacity.

• Existing Air Canada or Jazz Aviation bookings: Check flight status at aircanada.com/flightstatus or use FlightAware to track AC8646’s route. Call Air Canada at 1-888-247-2262 for no-fee rebooking within 48 hours of the incident. The airline has waived change fees for passengers affected by LaGuardia delays through March 26.
• Planning new trips through LaGuardia: Monitor the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s LaGuardia status page for runway reopening updates. Avoid booking midnight arrivals (11 p.m.–2 a.m. ET) until the NTSB releases preliminary findings — this time window carries the highest risk of ATC staffing scrutiny and potential delays.
• Currently at LaGuardia: TSA checkpoint delays are running 60–90 minutes as of Tuesday afternoon. Arrive 2.5 hours early for domestic flights, 3 hours for international. Use the Port Authority hotline at 1-800-235-5781 for ground transport coordination if your flight is canceled.
• Tight connections: If your itinerary involves a LaGuardia connection with less than 90 minutes between flights, contact your airline now to rebook through Newark (EWR) or JFK. Both airports operate at full capacity and offer more buffer against investigation-related delays.

Watch: The FAA typically issues a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) when runway closures extend beyond 72 hours. If no NOTAM appears by Thursday evening, runway 4 will likely reopen by the weekend.