By Oliver Holmes and Agencies
The pilot and co-pilot of an Air Canada Express regional jet have been killed after it collided with a fire truck while landing at New York’s LaGuardia airport, in an incident that closed the airport.
The collision also caused serious injuries with nine people in hospital. It happened as a firefighting vehicle was responding to a separate incident, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport.
The Air Canada Express CRJ-900 plane, operated by its partner Jazz Aviation, was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members from Montreal, based on a preliminary passenger list that remained subject to confirmation. Jazz is owned by Chorus Aviation.
The aircraft struck the fire vehicle while doing about 24mph, according to the flight-tracking website Flightradar24, which last recorded data at 11.37pm.
In the moments before the crash, an air traffic controller could be heard on a radio transmission giving clearance to a vehicle to cross part of the runway, then trying to stop it.
“Stop, Truck 1. Stop,” the transmission says. The controller can then be heard quickly diverting incoming aircraft from landing.
Photos showed significant damage to the nose of the plane, which was tilted upward. Stairways used to evacuate passengers from aircraft were pushed up to the emergency exits on the jet.
A photo of the fire vehicle showed it had tipped on to its side. NBC News had earlier said a sergeant and an officer had broken limbs and were in stable condition at a hospital.
The truck had been responding to a United Airlines flight, which had declared an emergency due to an odour reported onboard. Controllers told the aircraft that fire trucks were available on site.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the airport was expected to remain closed until 2pm on Monday. Flightradar24 said 18 flights had been diverted to other airports, mostly in the New York area, or returned to their point of origin.
Air Canada referred request for comment to Jazz’s statement and said it was aware of the incident. The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
New York City’s emergency notification system said people could expect cancellations, road closures, traffic delays and emergency personnel near the airport.
