Authorities are investigating the collision of an Air Canada Express plane and a fire truck that killed two pilots on a runway at New York’s LaGuardia Airport late Sunday night.
The investigation by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, with assistance from Canada’s Transportation Safety Board, is expected to examine why the emergency vehicle was cleared by air traffic control to cross the runway in the path of the landing passenger jet.
The fire truck was reporting to a separate incident when it was struck on the runway by the CRJ 900 regional jet, operated by Air Canada contractor Jazz Aviation, which was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members, Jazz and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in separate statements.
“The pilot and co-pilot of the Jazz Aviation flight were pronounced deceased,” the Port Authority said.
One of the pilots who died was Antoine Forest, 30, of Coteau-du-Lac, Que., according to a source close to the company and a Facebook post by his hometown. The other pilot who died was Mackenzie Gunther, according to the same source. A LinkedIn profile for a pilot with that name listed his location as Peterborough, Ont. The Globe is not naming the source because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.
Thirty-nine passengers and crew and two firefighters were taken to hospital. The airport closed after the collision, but reopened Monday afternoon.
Kathryn Garcia, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said 32 of the 41 injured had been released from hospital, while nine remained in hospital with “serious injuries.” Those injured included passengers, crew and the two officers aboard the fire truck; both officers have non-life-threatening injuries.
The aircraft, arriving from Montreal, was built by Bombardier in 2006, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24. Mitsubishi purchased the jet program in 2020.
According to control tower radio transmissions published on LiveATC.net, the fire truck requested permission to cross Runway 4. The controller acknowledged the crossing then quickly said, “Stop there, please. Stop stop Truck One Stop stop stop stop.” As alarms sounded, the controller told another aircraft to “go around” or abort its landing.
“Jazz 646 I see you collided with a vehicle there. Just hold position, I know you can’t move,” the controller said, adding emergency vehicles were on the way.
“That wasn’t good to watch,” one man says in a tower broadcast after the crash. “I know. I tried to reach out to my staff. We were dealing with an emergency earlier. I messed up,” the other man says. “No, man, you did the best you could,” comes the reply.
The aircraft struck the fire vehicle at a speed of about 167 kilometres an hour, according to Flightradar24.
“We just had an absolute slam and everyone was flying everywhere and the plane started veering off left and right,” Air Canada passenger Jack Cabot told Fox News in a broadcast interview. “It was chaos.”
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The impact severed the cockpit, and hurled a flight attendant – still secured to her seat – far from the site of the crash, her daughter, Sarah Lépine, told TVA news. The flight attendant, Solange Tremblay, survived, but suffered multiple fractures to one leg and will need surgery after being thrown from the plane, Ms. Lépine said.
Her survival is “a total miracle,” Ms. Lépine said. “I’m still trying to understand how all this happened, but she definitely has a guardian angel watching over her.”
Another passenger, Clément Lelièvre, said the pilots likely saved his life and the lives of other passengers late Sunday night.
“Just as the plane touched down, the pilot braked extremely hard,” said Mr. Lelièvre, a French national. “I don’t know the circumstances, but I think he kind of saved our lives because he must have had incredible reflexes.”
Mr. Lelièvre said passengers escaped through emergency exit doors, hopping off the wings to the ground. Everyone helped each other get out, he said. He had injuries to his head and knee that were treated on the tarmac. He said he saw passengers bleeding, some with head injuries.
“Well, strangely enough, I wasn’t scared or panicked. On the contrary, I think most of us were pretty aware of what happened. So we all went outside, we got other people out,” Mr. Lelièvre said.
Photos taken by Reuters after the accident showed visible damage to the nose of the plane, which was tilted upward.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said it is sending a team of investigators to assist the NTSB in its investigation of the crash.
John Cox, a pilot and chief executive officer of Washington-based aviation consultancy Safety Operating Systems, said a preliminary report from the NTSB is expected in 30 days.
“They cleared the fire truck to cross the runway, but the Air Canada flight was on [the runway], so there’s going be a question as to how do you get two vehicles into the same spot,” Mr. Cox said by phone. “That’s going to be a real core question that the NTSB and Transportation Safety Board Canada will want to know.”
He said such collisions are uncommon but an area of concern for aviation safety authorities.
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Jennifer Homendy, chair of the NTSB, told reporters at a news conference at the airport on Monday evening that investigators recovered the flight data recorders by cutting a hole in the roof of the plane, which remains with its shredded nose in the air, resting on its tail.
The recorders will provide information she will be able to share possibly as early as Tuesday, she said. It is too early to answer most questions, she said. “The NTSB deals in facts. We don’t speculate,” Ms. Homendy said.
There are 25 NTSB investigators on site who will examine all facets of the incident, from air control staffing to communications and pilot backgrounds. “We’ll want to interview that air traffic controller in the tower as well as others,” she said.
Geraint Harvey, a professor at Western University who has interviewed air traffic controllers as part of his research of civil aviation, said it is too soon to draw conclusions, and that such tragedies are often a result of several difficult circumstances lining up. Like pilots and surgeons, he said, air traffic controllers work in very stressful environments where mistakes and uncontrollable factors can lead to tragedies.
“It’s terrible for the families of the people who’ve been lost, but also dreadful for this person who’s got to live with this issue,” Prof. Harvey said of the air traffic controller.
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In a statement, Jason Ambrosi, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, said the union’s critical incident teams are on their way to assist investigators, members and families. He called it a “profound tragedy.”
In a video statement, Michael Rousseau, Air Canada’s chief executive officer, expressed his “deepest sorrow for everyone affected.”
“We know there are many questions but at this stage we do not have all the answers,” he said.
Jazz Aviation said in a statement it is “deeply saddened” by the deaths of two employees and is working to support family members and workers.
“Today is an incredibly difficult day for our airline, our employees, and most importantly, the families and loved ones of those affected by the accident involving flight 8646,” said Doug Clarke, president of Jazz Aviation.
The Washington-based National Air Traffic Controllers Association declined to comment.
In the House of Commons on Monday, federal Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon expressed his condolences and sadness, on behalf of the government and the House, to all parties affected by the crash in New York City. “It’s important that every person working in transport come home at the end of every day,” he said, adding, “Canada is searching for answers.”
Jazz Aviation is owned by Halifax-based Chorus Aviation Inc., which also owns charter brand Voyageur Aviation and Cygnet Aviation Academy.
Jazz flies CRJ 900 and Dash-8 planes contracted to Air Canada Express, the carrier’s regional brand.
With reports from Tu Thanh Ha, Ian Bailey, The Canadian Press and Reuters