'Stop truck one. Stop': Chilling audio from air traffic control moments before Air Canada crash
Standard procedure quickly turns to panic in chilling audio from the air traffic control tower at New York’s LaGuardia Airport in the brief moments just before and after the fatal Air Canada crash late Sunday night.
“Stop, stop, stop,” a panic-stricken air traffic controller repeated to the driver of the fire truck that collided with the jet as it landed on the runway.
The pilot and co-pilot were both killed in the collision and 39 of the 72 passengers were sent to the hospital, nine of whom remain in care, some in critical condition.
According to the recording at LiveATC.net , the air traffic controller directs the Air Canada Jazz pilot to land on runway four and instructs the pilots of a Delta 2603, also on descent, to stand by, before turning his attention to a vehicle requesting to cross runway four “at delta.” The controller gives them permission and, as the driver confirms he’s starting to cross, the controller asks another flight, Frontier 4195, to stop.
“Stop, stop, stop, stop, truck one, stop, stop, stop,” the controller says abruptly, alarm evident in his voice. “Stop, stop, stop.”
“Stop truck one. Stop,” he says twice, clearly panicked as an alarm intensifies behind him before the recording goes quiet.
When it returns, more alarms are blaring as the controller diverts a Delta Airlines flight away from the runway.
“Jazz 646,” he says to the cockpit of the Air Canada CRJ-900 jet, “Jazz 646, I see you collided with a vehicle there. Just hold position. I know you can’t move. Vehicles are responding to you now.”
The audio continues with frantic efforts to divert aircraft from the now closed runway and onto others before another man’s voice eventually chimes in to inform all parties that “LaGuardia Airport is closed at this time.”
“No aircraft in or out,” he says.
The controller then radios the pilots of the Frontier flight, for which the firefighters were dispatched in response to a strange odour in their aircraft that was making flight attendants feel ill.
He tells them they can get ready to return to the ramp due to the incident on the field.
“Yeah, we saw it,” says the Frontier pilot.
After some silence, the controller’s voice returns, saying, “I know. I tried to reach out when I saw. We were dealing with an emergency earlier.”
Eventually, he tells the Frontier flight that the airport’s “going to be closed for a little while” and tells them to get ready to return.
“Yeah, we’ve got stuff in process for that, man,” a pilot replies. “That wasn’t… that wasn’t good to watch.”
“Yeah, I know I was here. I tried to reach out to my stuff, and we were dealing with an emergency earlier,” the controller says quietly. “I messed up.”
“No man, you did the best you could,” the pilot says back.
Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, said two of their employees in the truck suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
The Air Canada flight was arriving from Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation and Canada’s Transportation Safety Board said Monday morning it was dispatching a “team of investigators” to assist.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Ananda said on X that Canadian consular officials are liaising with authorities in New York and providing assistance to passengers.
“An additional consular team is en route to New York to support those affected,” she wrote.
I reiterate my profound and utter sadness at the loss of two pilots during this tragic accident. I am thinking of their families and friends, as well as the passengers on board, including those who were injured. I am also thinking about the broader aviation community who are… https://t.co/VkXDMDpZLF
— Anita Anand (@AnitaAnandMP) March 23, 2026
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