Investigation Summary
The accident occurred at 23:37 local time during night visual meteorological conditions. The aircraft, a Mitsubishi CRJ-900, was on its final approach to runway 4 when a convoy of seven emergency vehicles was responding to a separate emergency near Terminal B. The lead ARFF vehicle, designated Rescue 35 (Truck 1), requested and received clearance from the local controller to cross runway 4 at taxiway D. At the time of this clearance, the airplane was approximately 130 feet above the ground and 1/4 mile from the threshold. The airplane touched down and the crew began braking and thrust reverser deployment, but the ARFF vehicle continued onto the runway. The collision occurred at the intersection of taxiway D and runway 4 at a recorded ground speed of 90 knots. The impact caused substantial damage to the forward fuselage, resulting in the separation of the cockpit and the fatal injury of both flight deck crew members. Passengers evacuated through overwing exits as the aircraft came to rest in a nose-down attitude, later tilting onto its tail during the evacuation process.
Video Analysis
03/23/26 Air Canada Crash LaGuardia | Pilots Killed — Breaking news coverage of the collision at LaGuardia Airport involving an Air Canada Express flight and a Port Authority ARFF vehicle.
If playback is blocked, the owner has disabled embedding — use the link above.
Airframe & Maintenance
Crew Experience
Captain
Hired Dec 2022, upgraded to Captain Dec 2025. 1,600 hours at Jazz.
First Officer
Hired April 2024. 435 hours at Jazz.
Systems & Failure Modes
ASDE-X
Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model X, is a surveillance system intended to track aircraft and vehicles on the airport surface to prevent incursions. In this event, it failed to alert controllers because the ground vehicles lacked transponders, leading to intermittent radar targets.
Runway Status Lights (RWSL)
A system including Runway Entrance Lights (RELs) that turn red to warn taxiway traffic of approaching runway traffic. The system is designed to extinguish the lights 2 to 3 seconds before an aircraft reaches the intersection.
INDMEX Tablet
A situational awareness display in the ARFF truck that depicts vehicle and aircraft locations but lacks the capability to warn of impending collisions.
Interesting Facts
- 01The ASDE-X surface surveillance system did not generate an aural or visual alert to warn controllers of the potential conflict.
- 02The ARFF vehicles were not equipped with transponders, which prevented the ASDE-X system from establishing high-confidence tracks or uniquely identifying the seven vehicles.
- 03The Runway Entrance Lights (RELs) were illuminated for the arrival but extinguished approximately 3 seconds prior to the collision as designed.
- 04The collision resulted in the separation of the two pilot seats, the observer seat, and the forward flight attendant seat from the fuselage.
- 05The captain had 3,560 total flight hours and the first officer had 718 total flight hours.
Location
APPROXIMATE POSITION · AIRPORT LEVEL · Coordinates are the estimate published in the ntsb final report. The ring shows the accuracy the record supports, not the point of impact.