NY - Air Canada flight hits fire truck on runway at LaGuardia Airport. March 23, 2026

[Rikissa]

Article from 23 March 2026:

• The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the Air Canada Express CRJ-900 plane that collided with a Port Authority fire truck while landing at New York's LaGuardia airport late Sunday.
• Officials are expected to provide more details on the investigation tomorrow.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/livestory/air-canada-crash-la-guardia-airport-9.7138217

 

[Rikissa]

Mentour Pilot has made a short post on his YouTube channel about the LaGuardia accident:

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2036325363177996484

 

[tricia]

Mentour Pilot has made a short post on his YouTube channel about the LaGuardia accident:

This is a great source. Thank you Rikissa

 

[ch_13]

Is there some sort of partial government shutdown where air traffic controllers are unpaid, working extra long shifts, and under-staffed? That's what was reported on the local Canadian news this evening.

Just to clarify...last fall there was a government shutdown and the controllers had to work while being unpaid.

Currently, there is a partial shutdown that affects the Department of Homeland Security. They control the TSA who are responsible for screening passengers and baggage. ATC however is not subject to this shutdown.

However, controllers are working long shifts and most sites are understaffed. This is a long-standing problem that is not directly related to the shutdowns, although they did exacerbate the problems. Because of the issues many have left the industry and not enough people are being trained as replacements.

Here's an article from last year about controllers leaving the U.S. to work in Australia.

https://www.wsj.com/business/airlines/these-air-traffic-controllers-are-leaving-their-jobsand-heading-to-australia-13935de6

Edit - That article is behind a paywall. Here is another one that covers similar ground.

Americans Are Footing The Bill As The FAA Loses Air Traffic Controllers To Other Countries

U.S. air traffic controllers are moving abroad for better work and life conditions.

www.thetravel.com

 

[dotr]

Google Search

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/air-canada-fatal-crash-pilot-seneca-grad-9.7138329

''Gunther joined Jazz Aviation immediately after graduating from Seneca, according to the school's memoriam. Seneca campuses will fly flags at half-mast Tuesday to honour his memory.

"Seneca sends our deepest condolences to Mr. Gunther’s family and friends, and to his former colleagues and professors. He will be deeply missed," the memoriam read.

Multiple students in Seneca's flight services program in North York say the news has left them shaken.

“We the feel the loss of a student, and a pilot in this case, that was part of our community," said Venhy Cortez, who is currently doing a placement with Porter Airlines.

Leena Bah, another student who didn't know Gunther personally, said she and her classmates are thinking of his family now, and she hopes the tragedy will at least lead to safety improvements to prevent something similar from happening again.''

 

[PrairieWind]

I’ve always been in awe of ATC’s seemingly chaotic duties. That they can handle so many things at once. And now to realize they are also handling all of that activity on the ground as well….wowza

Google Search

View attachment 654543

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/air-canada-fatal-crash-pilot-seneca-grad-9.7138329

''Gunther joined Jazz Aviation immediately after graduating from Seneca, according to the school's memoriam. Seneca campuses will fly flags at half-mast Tuesday to honour his memory.

"Seneca sends our deepest condolences to Mr. Gunther’s family and friends, and to his former colleagues and professors. He will be deeply missed," the memoriam read.

Multiple students in Seneca's flight services program in North York say the news has left them shaken.

“We the feel the loss of a student, and a pilot in this case, that was part of our community," said Venhy Cortez, who is currently doing a placement with Porter Airlines.

Leena Bah, another student who didn't know Gunther personally, said she and her classmates are thinking of his family now, and she hopes the tragedy will at least lead to safety improvements to prevent something similar from happening again.''

So sad. These young pilots had no options, no where to go. There was nothing they could have done to avoid the collision.

 

[sds71]

 

[scaredtopost]

They can say there were two controllers but the audio makes it obvious only one was dealing with the multiple issues simultaneously needing attention. I hope he knows how many people are thinking of him and know he is not to blame. JMO, MOO, etc.

 

[sds71]

@cspan

NTSB Chair @JenniferHomendy on LaGuardia Airport plane crash: "It is not clear who was…conducting the duties of the ground controller. We have conflicting information…They manage all aircraft and vehicle movements on the taxiways."

NTSB says 25 hrs CVR data recorded. CVR will be auditioned tomorrow at NTSB lab and transcript created. 80 hrs of data and hundreds of parameters recorded by Flight Data Recorder. ARFF Truck 1 was not equipped with a transponder. ASDE-X did not alert in the tower

https://twitter.com/x/status/2036513997667614954

https://twitter.com/x/status/2036511672655855910

 

[PrairieWind]

They can say there were two controllers but the audio makes it obvious only one was dealing with the multiple issues simultaneously needing attention. I hope he knows how many people are thinking of him and know he is not to blame. JMO, MOO, etc.

You have only been given access to one audio. Did you think you have all the information at this time? We don't k now who was controlling what yet. There were others on duty at the time.
Laguardia was not really that understaffed.

 

[ch_13]

You have only been given access to one audio. Did you think you have all the information at this time? We don't k now who was controlling what yet. There were others on duty at the time.
Laguardia was not really that understaffed.

It's really unclear. In the press conference, the NTSB said that there were two controllers in the tower. But they also said they didn't yet know if one controller was doing two jobs. Listening to the ATC audio, you can hear the same guy who was doing ground also tell an aircraft to go around. If the other controller was in place, why wasn't he the one to handle the aircraft movements?

The NTSB also noted that the controller kept working even after the crash. According to SOP he should have been removed from duty immediately. Begs the question where was the other controller.

 

[tarabull]

Fire truck in LaGuardia crash lacked equipment needed to trigger runway warning system, NTSB says

NEW YORK (AP) — A runway warning system failed to sound an alarm moments before an Air Canada jet and a fire truck collided while the plane was landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, federal investigators said Tuesday.

www.piquenewsmagazine.com

 

[PrairieWind]

It's really unclear. In the press conference, the NTSB said that there were two controllers in the tower. But they also said they didn't yet know if one controller was doing two jobs. Listening to the ATC audio, you can hear the same guy who was doing ground also tell an aircraft to go around. If the other controller was in place, why wasn't he the one to handle the aircraft movements?

The NTSB also noted that the controller kept working even after the crash. According to SOP he should have been removed from duty immediately. Begs the question where was the other controller.

Fire truck in LaGuardia crash lacked equipment needed to trigger runway warning system, NTSB says

NEW YORK (AP) — A runway warning system failed to sound an alarm moments before an Air Canada jet and a fire truck collided while the plane was landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, federal investigators said Tuesday.

www.piquenewsmagazine.com

Indicates that there were two controllers on duty which is the normal staff. YOu have cited to an SOP that states the controller needed to be removed, i think according to WS rules you have to provide that citation.

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2036514058719904136

 

[ch_13]

Fire truck in LaGuardia crash lacked equipment needed to trigger runway warning system, NTSB says

NEW YORK (AP) — A runway warning system failed to sound an alarm moments before an Air Canada jet and a fire truck collided while the plane was landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, federal investigators said Tuesday.

www.piquenewsmagazine.com

Indicates that there were two controllers on duty which is the normal staff. YOu have cited to an SOP that states the controller needed to be removed, i think according to WS rules you have to provide that citation.

As I noted in my post, the NTSB said it in their press conference.

EDIT: At 14:23: "We know that that controller was still on duty for several minutes afterwards. Normally they would be relieved. We have questions about that. Was anybody available to relieve that controller?"

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2036512498732384761

 

[PrairieWind]

The NTSB just said it in their press conference.

The NTSB just said it in their press conference.

EDIT: At 14:23: "We know that that controller was still on duty for several minutes afterwards. Normally they would be relieved. We have questions about that. Was anybody available to relieve that controller."

I would assume you CANT relive a controller until someone else takes over. Or do we just let all those planes hang out there?

 

[ch_13]

I would assume you CANT relive a controller until someone else takes over. Or do we just let all those planes hang out there?

Honestly, I'm not sure what you're arguing here. The airport was obviously closed after the crash, so there were no more takeoffs or landings, only ground movements.

The question is, if there was a second controller in the building, why didn't they take over immediately following the crash? This is a question that the NTSB raised, and I just paraphrased it after listening to their press conference.

If you think it's a bad question, take it up with them, not me.

 

[IceIce9]

MacKenzie Gunther was a young woman.

In many reports she is being wrongly referred to as a young man.

Conflicting reports. Here is a photo of a male pilot.










Breaking Aviation News & Videos


The second pilot killed in the LaGuardia Airport crash has been pictured for the first time.Mackenzie Gunther was one of the pilots who died, according to a statement released by his alma mater, Seneca Polytechnic. He graduated from the school’s Honors Bachelor of Aviation.