Two pilots were killed and 41 others were hospitalized in connection with a crash involving an Air Canada passenger plane and a Port Authority rescue truck at LaGuardia Airport in New York City late Sunday (March 22) night, which resulted in the airport, one of the busiest in the United States, closing for most of Monday (March 23), the New York Post reports.
Both the pilot and co-pilot of the Air Canada Bombardier CRJ-900 jet were killed while many of the 72 passengers and four crew members were injured, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed. A female flight attendant was ejected through the front of the aircraft during the crash but managed to survive as Port Authority officers rescued her and brought her to a hospital, the sources said.
Two police officers on the Port Authority rescue truck at the time of the crash were among the 41 people hospitalized. Kathryn Garcia, the Port Authority executive director, confirmed to reporters that 32 of the people hospitalized had already been released while others were “seriously injured,” though not elaborating on that total.
The hospitalized passengers received treatment at Elmhurst or Queens Presbyterian hospitals, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to NBC News. A Port Authority fire truck was attempting to cross Runway 4 to get to a separate United Airlines flight departing for Chicago after it had rejected two takeoffs and declared an emergency on the ground due to a strange odor making flight attendants sick, according to audio from LaGuardia’s traffic tower. The truck was cleared to cross Runway 4 when the Air Canada/Jazz CRJ flight collided with it.
The accident occurred at Runway 4 just before 11:40 p.m. as the plane was heading to a gate as rainy and cloudy weather was present in New York City. The arriving plane, a Bombardier CRJ-900, was reportedly carrying a group of Orthodox Jews, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to the New York Post late Sunday night.
Photos and videos shared online showed the plane mangled after the crash occurred. The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that a ground stop was issued for LaGuardia Airport due to an aircraft emergency.
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