Ottawa, March 23: Four people sustained injuries Monday evening after an Air Canada Express regional jet collided with a ground vehicle upon landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. The incident, involving a Bombardier CRJ-900 arriving from Montreal, resulted in a temporary ground stop for all flight operations at the facility.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a notice halting all traffic until at least 0530 GMT due to the emergency. Data provided by flight tracking service Flightradar24 indicated the aircraft struck the vehicle while traveling at approximately 24 miles per hour. While official details regarding the victims remained limited, reports affirmed that the pilot and co-pilot were among those badly hurt.
Jazz Aviation, which operates the regional service for Air Canada, was identified as the operator of the flight. In the aftermath of the impact, unverified social media footage showed the aircraft with its nose tilted upward and visible damage to the front fuselage. The New York Fire Department confirmed it responded to a reported incident involving a plane and a vehicle on the runway but did not offer specific casualty counts in its initial statement.
The airport’s official website reflected the severity of the disruption, noting that arriving flights were being diverted to alternative hubs or returned to their original departure cities. The FAA maintained in a separate advisory that the closure could potentially extend until 1800 GMT.
“We are responding to a reported incident involving a plane and a vehicle on the runway,” the New York Fire Department declared in a brief release during the early stages of the investigation. Neither Air Canada nor federal regulators provided an immediate formal comment regarding the cause of the collision.
