Standard aviation procedures dissolved into sheer panic in newly released audio recordings from the air traffic control tower at New York's LaGuardia Airport. The chilling audio captures the critical moments just before and immediately after a fatal collision between an Air Canada Express CRJ-900 jet and an airport fire truck late Sunday night.
The Frantic Warnings
According to recordings available at LiveATC.net, the sequence begins routinely enough. An airport fire truck driver, identified as "truck one and company," contacts the tower requesting permission to cross runway four "at delta." The controller grants permission, and as the driver confirms he's beginning to cross, the controller instructs another flight, Frontier 4195, to stop.
Suddenly, the controller's tone shifts dramatically. "Stop, stop, stop, stop, truck one, stop, stop, stop," he says abruptly, alarm evident in his voice. "Stop, stop, stop." The urgency intensifies as he repeats, "Stop truck one. Stop," twice more, with background alarms growing louder before the recording temporarily goes silent.
Aftermath and Response
When the audio resumes, multiple alarms are blaring as the controller urgently diverts a Delta Airlines flight away from the compromised runway. Addressing the cockpit of the Air Canada Express jet, flight Jazz 646, he transmits, "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 recording continues with frantic efforts to redirect aircraft from the now-closed runway to others. Eventually, another voice announces to all parties that "LaGuardia Airport is closed at this time."
Casualties and Investigation
The collision proved fatal for both the pilot and co-pilot of the Air Canada Express aircraft. Of the 72 passengers onboard, 41 were transported to hospitals, with nine remaining in care—some in critical condition. The flight had been arriving from Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal.
Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates LaGuardia Airport, reported that the two Port Authority employees in the fire truck sustained non-life-threatening injuries. The truck and its occupants had been responding to reports of a strange odor in another aircraft on the tarmac that was causing flight attendants to feel ill.
Official Responses
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has taken the lead in investigating the incident. Canada's Transportation Safety Board announced Monday morning that it was dispatching "a team of investigators" to assist with the inquiry.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Ananda stated on social media platform X that Canadian consular officials are liaising with authorities in New York and providing assistance to affected passengers. "An additional consular team is en route to New York to support those affected," she wrote.
The collision left a damaged Port Authority fire truck near the runway and an Air Canada Express plane immobilized on the tarmac, creating significant disruption at one of New York's busiest airports.
