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‘STOP!’: Harrowing Air Traffic Control Audio Reveals Moment Plane Collides With Emergency Vehicle On Runway
An air traffic controller’s frantic warning, “Stop, stop, stop, stop, truck 1, stop, stop, stop” wasn’t enough to prevent the deadly runway collision at LaGuardia Airport that killed two pilots and sent dozens to hospitals.
The crash happened late Sunday when an Air Canada Express CRJ-900, operated by Jazz Aviation, struck a Port Authority aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle on Runway 4 while the truck was responding to a separate incident at the airport, according to the National Transportation Safety Board and airport officials.
Audio from the tower captures a controller initially clearing the emergency vehicle to cross before another voice urgently tries to halt it.
“Stop, truck 1, stop!” the controller says again in the recording. It’s not clear how the truck responded in the final moments before impact.
In the aftermath, two air traffic controllers are heard reacting to what unfolded. One says they’d been told the airport would be shut down “for a little while.” Another responds: “That wasn’t good to watch.”
Audio from Air Traffic Control when plane collided with fire truck at New York airport:
“Stop Truck 1, stop!”
“We were dealing with an emergency earlier and I messed up” pic.twitter.com/7dJcFov4gq
— BNO News (@BNONews) March 23, 2026
The first controller then adds: “Yeah, I know. I was there. I was trying to reach out to ’em to stop. We were dealing with an emergency earlier. I messed up.” A colleague answers: “Nah, man, you did the best you could.”
The CRJ-900 was Flight 8646 from Montreal to New York with 72 passengers and four crew members aboard, authorities said. The pilot and co-pilot were pronounced dead, the Port Authority confirmed. Officials said 41 people were transported to hospitals, 39 from the aircraft and two firefighters, and at least 32 have since been released. Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia said some of the injuries were serious.
RELATED: Gut-Wrenching Footage Shows Tragic Plane Crash At LaGuardia Airport
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a ground stop, and LaGuardia was closed into Monday afternoon as investigators moved in. The NTSB and FAA are leading the probe, which will examine factors including aircraft speed, air traffic control staffing and how the runway was being managed during the earlier emergency.
RELATED: BREAKING: Injuries Reported After Plane Collision At NYC’s LaGuardia Airport
For travelers, the impact was immediate: cancellations stacked up, terminals filled with stranded passengers, and flight boards flickered with delays and rebooking’s. For investigators, the question is simpler, how a rescue truck ended up in the wrong place at the worst possible time, despite a last-second shouted warning from the tower.
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