'Everybody was flying everywhere': Passengers describe Air Canada Express plane crash in New York
Passengers described the mayhem aboard an Air Canada Express flight that crashed into a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport late Sunday, killing both pilots and leaving dozens injured.
Jack Cabot told Fox News the Jazz Aviation flight operated on behalf of Air Canada “came down really hard” around 11:40 p.m. and “stopped really quickly.”
About two seconds later, “we just had an absolute, like, slam,” Cabot said.
“Everybody was flying everywhere. The plane was sort of veering off left and right,” he said. “It was chaos. It didn’t feel like there was anybody in control.”
'IT WAS CHAOS': An Air Canada passenger details the harrowing moments when the plane he was on collided with a fire truck on the runway during landing at LaGuardia Airport. Two pilots were killed and dozens of passengers were injured. pic.twitter.com/7Nt36V5Bfc
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 23, 2026
ABC7NY reported the flight, which originated in Montreal, crashed into a Port Authority vehicle on the runway. The CRJ-900 plane was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members.
In audio from the air traffic control tower, someone from the control tower demands the fire truck stop. But it was too late for the plane on Runway 4.
“Stop, stop, stop, stop truck one, stop,” said the unnamed control tower official.
The pilot and co-pilot were killed in the crash. Nine others were left in hospital with serious injuries.
A Canadian airline pilot, who did not want to be identified, said Monday that there’s no way the pilots could have avoided the crash at the last second.
“Not in that phase of flight,” said the airline pilot who spoke on condition of anonymity. “They had just landed. They were decelerating. They were at about a hundred miles an hour. No, they didn’t have enough speed to go around. They were in the ground phase. They didn’t have enough time, nor did they have enough runway.”
Local news outlets reported there was significant damage to the plane’s nose.
About 41 people were taken to hospital, but 32 of them had been released by Monday morning.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration said LaGuardia will stay closed until at least 2 p.m. local time.
Two people who were aboard the flight, a man and a woman, told ABC said one person they were travelling with suffered a broken nose in the crash.
“We were honestly sleeping and then landing and then all of a sudden, boom,” said the man. “We woke up in shock. We just didn’t know what to do.”
Within a few minutes, they decided they needed to get off the plane.
“We were a couple of rows behind first class and everything at the front of the plane was pretty messed up,” the female passenger told ABC.
Once passengers got off the flight, they were directed to the Air Canada ticket counter to find their families, Kathryn Garcia, the executive director of the New York Port Authority, told reporters.
“We understand that the one unaccompanied minor has been reunited with their family,” Garcia said.
“It is anticipated that the airport will be closed until at least 2 p.m. this afternoon to facilitate the investigation by NTSB, which has already begun.”
John Gradek, who teaches aviation management at McGill University, said that whoever was controlling the ground traffic at LaGuardia late Sunday appears to be at fault.
“It was human error in my opinion,” Gradek said Monday.
“That was probably the root cause of this incident.”
Investigators will want to know how long the person in the tower had been working before the crash, “where this guy was in terms of his circadian rhythms, and whether he was fully aware or whether he was distracted,” Gradek said.
Investigators will also be asking when the controller involved last got a good night’s sleep, he said.
The United States is experiencing shortages of both ground controllers and air traffic controllers, he said.
“We’re looking at situations where guys have been working doubles — starting at eight o’clock in the morning and working until midnight,” Gradek said. “It’s not something that you want to have too often. People lose their spatial awareness and their decision-making capabilities because of inattention or lack of sleep.”
He doubts Sunday’s crash will change air traffic from Canada into the U.S.
“This is a very, very rare occurrence,” Gradek said.
“They’ve got tens of thousands of flights operating into the U.S. airports every day. So, I’m not concerned about flying. I’d get on an airplane tomorrow to fly to the U.S. — not an issue.”
He advised people not to fly into U.S. airports late at night.
“I’d rather fly in the morning or midday or mid-afternoon,” Gradek said. “Then I know the controllers are hopefully more refreshed.”
Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.