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The NTSB published the preliminary report of the plane crash of a CRJ-900 from Air Canada and a fire truck in the LaGuardia Airport.
The aviation industry remains alert to the findings of the recent report on the runway incursion that occurred at the airport LaGuardia, an event that highlights critical challenges in safety coordination between flight operations and ground emergency services. This report details the technical and operational factors that allowed a fatal collision in one of the terminals with the highest traffic density in USA, raising questions about the effectiveness of current surface surveillance systems.
We review the main findings of the preliminary report to understand the chain of errors that led to this unfortunate accident..
Air Canada CRJ-900 preliminary accident report at LaGuardia
The 22 march 2026, the flight 646 by Jazz Aviation, operating under the brand Air Canada 8646, was involved in a collision with a rescue and firefighting vehicle (Arm) during its landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York. The impact, What happened at the intersection of the runway 4 and taxiway D, caused substantial damage to the forward fuselage of the Mitsubishi CRJ-900 aircraft and resulted in the death of the captain and first officer. Despite the severity of the crash, the 72 Passengers and the rest of the crew managed to evacuate the aircraft through the emergency exits on the wings..
- Date and time: 22 march 2026, 23:37 local time.
- Location: Clue 4, LaGuardia Airport (LGA), New York.
- operators: Jazz Aviation LP and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
- aircraft: Mitsubishi CL-600-2D24 (CRJ-900) y vehicle Oshkosh Striker 1500 (R35).
- Serial Numbers: Not available in preliminary report.
- Registration: C-GNJZ.
- Flight number: Jazz 646 / Air Canada 8646.
- Damage to Aircraft: Substantial, with destruction of the front section of the cabin and partial separation of the nose gear.
- Victims: 2 fatal, 6 seriously injured and 33 minor injuries.
Summary of the flight
The flight was carried out under the regulations of the part 129 as a scheduled trip from the international airport Montréal-Trudeau (YUL) towards LGA. The technical crew completed the first day of a four-day rotation, this being the third flight of the day. The captain had 3,560 total flight hours, while the first officer added 718 hours. The final approach was carried out in VMC night conditions., with visibility of 7 miles and light rain.
Preliminary research findings
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that, prior to the accident, seven emergency vehicles responded to an incident reported in terminal B. While the local tower controller authorized the plane to land on the runway 4, the R35 rescue truck requested and received authorization to cross the same active runway on taxiway D. At the time of issuing this crossing authorization, The aircraft was just half a mile from the intersection and at an altitude of 130 pies.
Investigators confirmed that the runway entrance lighting system (RELs), designed to prevent incursions, illuminated red correctly while the truck was stopped. Nevertheless, because the software turns off these warnings when a plane is about to occupy the intersection to avoid distractions to the pilot, the lights went out three seconds before impact, moment at which the driver of the R35 began to advance towards the runway.
further, It was identified that the ASDE-X surface surveillance system did not generate automated conflict alerts because ground vehicles were not equipped with transponders. Analysis of the communications revealed that the tower controller did not perceive the imminent danger despite having authorized both operations simultaneously at the same intersection.. FDR records indicate that the crew only initiated emergency maneuvers after the initial impact.
You can read the full preliminary report at this link: https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/202674/pdf
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