Two people died and at least two were injured tonight after the collision of an Air Canada plane with a fire truck on a runway at LaGuardia Airport in New York (Queens), according to CNN from a police source.
The deceased are the airline’s pilot and co-pilot, and the two injured were in the fire truck.
The accident occurred around 11:40 p.m. local time, when a Jazz Aviation flight operating an Air Canada flight collided with a firefighter vehicle that was responding to another incident at the airport, according to airport sources.
The airport has been closed
The authorities activated emergency protocols and ordered the closure of the airport to facilitate the investigation work.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an order to suspend flights at LaGuardia after the event and it is expected to remain closed until Monday afternoon.
Jazz Aviation confirmed in a statement issued early Monday the incident involving Air Canada Flight 8646 from Montreal.
72 passengers
The aircraft, a CRJ-900, was carrying 72 passengers and 4 crew members, according to a preliminary list, the airline reported.
According to the website, Flightradar24 – a global real-time flight tracking service – the plane was traveling at about 210 kilometers per hour – 130 miles per hour – moments before impact.
Images of the collision show severe damage to the front of the plane.
For its part, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced the dispatch of an investigative team to the site.
The accident, according to CNN, occurs in a context of tensions at airports in the United States due to the lack of funding from the Department of Homeland Security, which has affected security personnel and caused delays at different airfields in the country.
