Ottawa, March 23: A collision between a landing regional jet and a ground vehicle at LaGuardia Airport on Monday evening left four individuals injured and forced a total halt of air traffic in New York. The FAA initiated an emergency ground stop for the airport, citing a high probability that the closure would be extended beyond the initial timeframe.
The aircraft, an Air Canada Express flight operated by Jazz Aviation, was completing its journey from Montreal when the impact occurred. Flightradar24 asserted that the jet was moving at 39 kph at the time it struck the vehicle. Following the crash, the airport transitioned into an emergency status, with some notices suggesting the runways might stay closed until 1800 GMT on Tuesday.
Medical reports noted that the injuries to the flight crew were significant. The pilot and co-pilot were badly injured during the sequence of events, according to information provided by NBC News. On-site observers captured footage of the jet sitting on the tarmac with its nose angled toward the sky, suggesting a potential collapse or significant damage to the landing gear area.
Emergency crews from the New York Fire Department arrived at the scene shortly after the 911 calls were placed. The department stated that the unit was on-site managing a runway incident between a vehicle and a plane. Because of the ongoing emergency, various airlines were forced to reroute their inbound traffic to neighboring airports to manage the sudden lack of runway availability.
“The reason for the halt at the airport was an emergency,” the FAA notice stated, though the regulator did not immediately elaborate on the specific mechanics of the ground collision. Representatives for Air Canada have not yet released a statement regarding the condition of the crew or the circumstances leading to the vehicle being on the active runway.
