Last Sunday March 22, 2026, there was an airplane from Air Canada airline that crashed at LaGuardia Airport in New York. Both the co-pilot and pilot sadly died, and many injuries occurred.
Flight AC8646 was being operated by Jazz Aviation, and it came from Montreal, Canada. There were a total of 76 people, 72 of them being passengers and 4 crew members. This flight had been more than two hours late when it had landed around 11:36 PM. Right after the plane landed, and was on the runway it collided with a firetruck that was crossing runway 4 at the wrong time. The firetruck was there to assist another plane that had reported an odor in the cabin. The footage from the accident was a very brutal crash and such a tragedy to watch. The front of the aircraft was completely destroyed and the fire truck was flipped on its side.
The names of the pilots that died in the crash were Captain Antoine Forest and First Officer Mackenzie Gunther. Over 40 passengers including the crew members were hurt and taken to the hospital. One flight attendant, Solange Tremblay was ejected from the plane around 300 feet into the air, it was said that she was still strapped to her seat when she was found. The only injuries that she encountered were broken legs, a fractured spine and some skin loss; this was a miracle that she survived. The firefighters in the truck survived but also sustained many injuries.
Before the plane landed passengers say the landing was rough. This one passenger, Rebecca Liquori, talks about what her experience felt like. She said “As we were descending, we hit a lot of turbulence. Then we landed very roughly…everyone felt it. It was like the plane jolted and you heard the pilot try to brake trying to prevent the collision. As you heard the brake, a couple seconds later it was a very loud boom.” She also stated, “I’m just happy to be alive, I would have never pictured a one hour flight that I have done countless times ending like this.” The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating and NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said the air traffic control system is old, she said, “controllers should have all the information and tools to do their job… this is 2026.” She also said that no one should be pointing fingers or blaming anyone, Homendy says “when something goes wrong, many, many things have gone wrong.”
The airport had to close for several hours and reopened on Monday afternoon and only some flights could take off and land. The lines to get through the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) were long and people had to wait a long time. The accident resulted in many flight delays. Many investigators are looking deeper into the situation and are listening to any evidence from anything involved such as recordings and flight data. They are also trying to look more in depth with the firetruck situation. They want to know if the firefighters heard the air traffic controller saying to stop and why the air traffic control system failed to work. This crash is very sad and unfortunate for the families of the pilots and everyone who was involved. Although airplanes may be considered to be safe, your safety can’t always be guaranteed. Our best wishes go out to those that were lost and their families.