(COVER PHOTO: Adam Gray/Reuters via CNN Newsource)
(CNN) — An Air Canada plane collided with a fire truck while landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport Sunday, killing the flight’s pilot and copilot, injuring dozens and temporarily shutting down the the New York area’s third-busiest airport, officials said.
Around 11:40 p.m., a Jazz Aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada struck a Port Authority Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting vehicle, which was responding to a separate incident, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement.
“Emergency response protocols were immediately activated,” the statement said. “The airport is currently closed to facilitate the response and allow for a thorough investigation.”
The plane was carrying 72 passengers and 4 crew members, the airline said.
Initial reports indicated 41 passengers and crew were transported to the hospital and 32 of those have since been released, Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia said at a news conference early Monday morning.
Two people in the fire truck were also taken to the hospital and are in stable condition, Garcia said.
Passengers from the flight were directed to Air Canada’s ticket counter to be reunited with their families, according to Garcia, who said that included one unaccompanied minor who was on the plane.
The airport will be closed at least until 2 p.m. Monday for the investigation into the collision, Garcia said.
The truck had preliminarily been cleared and was responding to a nearby flight that had requested assistance for an unknown odor in the cockpit, a law enforcement official told CNN.
Photos and videos from the scene showed severe damage to the nose of the plane.
Jazz confirmed the incident involving Air Canada flight 8646 from Montreal in a statement early Monday.
The flight took off from Montreal Trudeau International Airport shortly after 10:30 p.m. ET and arrived at LaGuardia about an hour later, according to the flight tracking site FlightRadar24.
The plane was going about 130 miles per hour just before it hit the fire truck, according to the last data point collected before the collision by Flightradar24.
The New York City Fire Department said it responded to a reported incident involving a plane and vehicle on the airport’s runway at around 11:38 p.m.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop at LaGuardia shortly after the collision due to an “aircraft emergency.” The airport is expected to be closed until 2 p.m. Monday, according to the FAA.
Sunday’s collision comes as airports across the US have been thrown into turmoil amid the ongoing lapse of funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which has left Transportation Security Administration officers working without pay. An increasing number of TSA officers have been calling off work, leading to staffing shortages inside airport security and lengthy screening lines at some airports.
Unlike the government shutdown late last year, air traffic controllers are not affected by the current partial shutdown over DHS funding.
LaGuardia is the New York metropolitan area’s third-busiest airport and a major transit hub. Its temporary closure adds further woes to an already stressed US air travel system. More than 500 flights in and out of the airport were canceled as of early Monday, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware.
Air traffic control audio captures the moments leading up to the collision, which began with another flight reporting an emergency on the other side of the airport.
United flight 2384 aborted a takeoff due to a warning light, and the pilots reported an odor in the cabin had sickened the flight attendants, according to a LiveATC.com recording of air traffic control audio.
To get from the airport fire station to the United plane, the fire truck was granted permission to cross the runway where the Air Canada plane was landing, according to the air traffic control audio.
Seconds later, the controller urgently orders the truck to stop, before saying there has been a collision on the field.
“Truck One, stop, stop, stop!” an air traffic controller is heard saying, before addressing the plane seconds later: “JAZZ 646, I see you collided with the vehicle. Just hold position. I know you can’t move. Vehicles are responding to you now.”
A CNN reporter at the scene around 2 a.m. said the runway was filled with emergency vehicles.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were at the scene early Monday, according to the Port Authority.
Earlier, LaGuardia warned of flight disruptions due to weather conditions, with light rain and fog hitting the area.
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