Air Canada Jet Crash Sends 40+ Passengers to Local Hospital
Many people fear flying because of the potential for crashes. Most, however, picture those crashes happening while in flight, not at the arrival of a destination.
On Sunday, March 22nd, 2026, the Air Canada Express regional jet CRJ-900 was set to arrive at New York’s LaGuardia Airport from Montreal. As the plane came to a landing, however, both the pilot and co-pilot were killed when the flight collided with a fire truck shortly after landing at 11:40 p.m. that evening.
Carrying 72 passengers and 4 crew members, the Jazz Aviation sent 40+ people to the local hospital with serious injuries. According to Sakshi Venkatraman, reporting from LaGuardia Airport for BBC News, two friends on the tarmac, expecting to take off, Leo Medina (23) and Diego Chavarría, watched the plane get cut in half. “We were literally like 100 meters away,” said Medina.
While the jet was permitted to cross the runway at landing, the fire truck was responding to a separate incident aboard a United Airlines flight. Due to the accident, New York's LaGuardia Airport is shut down until 2 p m on Monday, March 23rd, 2026.
Although LaGuardia is one of the largest airports across the country with advanced surface surveillance systems to prevent crashes like these from happening, ABC notes that the aircraft was traveling 93-105mph at the time of the ground collision.
Currently, Canadian Transport Minister Steve MacKinnon said the country's government is working closely with U.S. authorities "as they investigate this incident, and are following developments closely” (Reuters).
While travelers are now facing delays, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy asked everyone to “Please keep the victims, families, and response teams in your prayers.”
41 victims were officially sent to the hospital, but as of Monday morning, 32 have been released, said the Port Authority (CNN).
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Photo Credit: ©Getty Images / Spencer Platt / Staff
Originally published March 23, 2026.
