Late at night on March 22, 2026, a plane collided with a fire truck on the runway at LaGuardia Airport in New York City.

The two pilots of the Air Canada Express jet were killed in the crash. All of the passengers on the plane survived, and the two crew members on the fire truck also survived.

One flight attendant was found alive outside the plane after her seat had been ejected in the collision.

The Port Authority airport vehicle involved in the collision was heading to an unrelated emergency on the other side of the airport. The truck had been cleared to cross the runway by the airport’s traffic controllers. Seconds before the collision, a controller can be heard frantically telling the truck to stop in an audio recording from the LaGuardia air traffic control tower.

West Morris Central senior Alex Dymnicki expressed his concerns regarding air traffic controllers and airport safety. “I think there has to be more funding into it,” Dymnicki said. “I know a lot of people are on strike, and I think we need to focus on that a lot, because recently there’s been a lot of plane crashes, and a lot of people are dying for no reason.”

Another senior at West Morris Central, Dan Guidea, had similar concerns for workers in aviation safety. “I think they also need to be paid better,” Guidea said. “I just think they need more support overall.”

Debris from the crash covered the runway, blocking traffic for multiple days. After large delays and cancellations, LaGuardia resumed flights at a reduced capacity.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is still investigating the accident.