A plane carrying dozens of passengers collided with a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia airport early Monday, killing the pilot and co-pilot. The incident occurred as the Air Canada Express plane, operated by Jazz Aviation, was responding to another emergency on Runway 4 around 11:40pm Sunday.
The collision resulted in severe damage to the aircraft’s nose and cockpit section. US media reported that 13 people were taken to hospitals with injuries, including 11 passengers and two first responders. The airport was subsequently closed for a thorough investigation and an extended suspension of flights was ordered by aviation authorities.
LaGuardia, located in Queens, serves over 33.5 million passengers annually. It recently completed an $8 billion redevelopment, upgrading its infrastructure. This incident follows several fatal aviation incidents in the US in recent months, including a collision between a passenger jet and an army helicopter near Washington last year that killed 67 people.