Not to be confused with Air Canada Flight 646.

Air Canada Express Flight 8646
NTSB investigators walk past the scene of the collision
Accident
Date March 22, 2026
Summary Collided with an airport firefighting truck while landing; under investigation
Site
  • LaGuardia Airport, New York City, U.S.
  • 40°46′32″N 73°52′44″W / 40.7755°N 73.8789°W / 40.7755; -73.8789
Map
Total fatalities 2
Total injuries 41[a]
Aircraft

C-GNJZ, the aircraft involved in the accident, seen in 2022
Aircraft type Bombardier CRJ900
Operator Jazz Aviation on behalf of Air Canada Express
IATA flight No. QK8646/AC8646[1]
ICAO flight No. JZA646
Call sign JAZZ 646
Registration C-GNJZ
Flight origin Montréal–Trudeau International Airport, Dorval, Quebec, Canada
Destination LaGuardia Airport, Queens, New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupants 76
Passengers 72[2]
Crew 4
Fatalities 2[3]
Injuries 39[4][5]
Survivors 74
Ground casualties
Ground injuries 2

Air Canada Express Flight 8646 was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from Montréal–Trudeau International Airport in Quebec, Canada, to LaGuardia Airport in New York, United States. The flight was operated by Jazz Aviation, an airline operating regional flights on behalf of Air Canada under the brand Air Canada Express. On the night of March 22, 2026, the Bombardier CRJ900 serving the flight experienced a runway incursion[6][7] with a LaGuardia airport firefighting truck operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.[8] The truck was crossing the runway to reach an unrelated emergency event as the CRJ900 landed, resulting in a ground collision. The aircraft's cockpit and forward galley sections were destroyed, killing both pilots.[1][9] Forty-one people, including passengers, crew, and both occupants of the truck, were hospitalized following the collision; nine remained under medical care the following day. Flight 8646 was the first fatal accident at LaGuardia in 34 years, when USAir Flight 405 crashed on the same day in 1992.

Background

Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the accident was a 20-year old Bombardier CRJ900LR operated by Jazz Aviation LP on behalf of Air Canada Express, registered as C-GNJZ. It was delivered new to the airline in late 2005.[10] The aircraft was configured for regional passenger service and was typically used on short- to medium-haul routes within Canada, and between Canada and the United States. It was powered by two General Electric CF34-8C5 turbofan engines.[11]

Passengers and crew

There were 76 people on board, including 72 passengers and 4 crew members.[5] The pilots killed were identified as captain Antoine Forest, a 30 year-old male, of Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec, and first officer Mackenzie Gunther, a 24 year-old male of Peterborough, Ontario.[12][13]

Firefighting truck

The airport firefighting truck was identified as Truck 1 (marked Truck 35 on the vehicle), and was operated by the Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) unit of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department.[14] The vehicle is reported to have been an Oshkosh Striker 1500.[15][16]

Weather

About three hours before the accident, LaGuardia Airport posted on X that weather conditions caused flight disruptions.[17] Heavy rain was reported across the New York City area, with water being seen on the tarmac of LaGuardia Airport. Additionally, visibility was reduced to just 3 mi (4.8 km).[18]

Airport and air traffic control

Two air traffic controllers were working at the airport at the time, although both were working two positions each as part of a nighttime shift. An additional two controllers were present at the airport, but not on duty inside the control room.[19][20][21] The airport controllers were not affected by the 2026 second partial government shutdown over Department of Homeland Security funding.[22][23]

Accident

LaGuardia ATC transmissions
(expand to view captions)
Diagram of the flight path over LaGuardia

The aircraft departed Montréal–Trudeau International Airport in Montreal at 10:12 p.m. EDT, having been delayed over two hours, en route to LaGuardia Airport in New York City.[24][25]

At 11:18 p.m., United Airlines Flight 2384, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 bound for O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, aborted its takeoff from LaGuardia twice after anti-ice warning lights came on, and declared an emergency after the crew noticed a foul odor in the cabin.[14] Without an open gate for the United flight, an airport firefighting truck and a stair truck were dispatched to assist flight 2384.[14]

At 11:37 p.m., air traffic control (ATC) cleared "Truck 1 and company"[26][27] to cross runway 4 at taxiway D (Delta) while the Air Canada Express aircraft was on short final. The controller could then be heard telling another aircraft, Frontier 4195, to stop. Immediately thereafter, the controller issued multiple radio transmissions telling Truck 1 to stop, just seconds after clearing it across the runway where the collision would occur.[28][29][10] ATC audio later released by media outlets captured a controller saying "I messed up" on the frequency shortly after the collision; a Frontier Airlines pilot who saw the collision radioed that the controller "did the best you could".[5][30] It also captured the moment of the initial and the second call to Truck 1: "Frontier 4195, just stop there please. Stop, stop, stop, stop, Truck 1, stop, stop, stop. Stop, Truck 1."[31]

At 11:38 p.m., the aircraft collided with the truck while landing. Based on flight-tracking data cited by multiple news outlets, the aircraft's ground speed was approximately 81–91 knots (150–169 km/h; 93–105 mph) along the runway at the time of the collision. Earlier reporting that cited a last recorded ground speed of about 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) was later corrected by Flightradar24, which clarified that this figure did not represent the aircraft's speed at impact.[4] ATC dispatched additional airport firefighting trucks to the scene, along with a response from the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) and New York City Police Department (NYPD). Footage of the aftermath showed the aircraft, which came to rest in the area of taxiway E (Echo), tilted upwards and the cockpit and front galley of the aircraft destroyed.[32] One flight attendant,[33][34] seated in a jump seat located behind the cockpit door, was ejected from the aircraft; she was found shortly after the crash with injuries but is "likely to survive".[35]

Security camera footage of the crash

Security camera video shows the aircraft striking the rear-right side of the truck with significant force, causing the truck to roll over. It appears the truck driver saw the jet just before impact and unsuccessfully tried to turn out of the way.[36] Passengers on the plane described feeling the aircraft brake hard immediately after touchdown, followed by a loud bang that threw people against their seats and into the cabin interior. Some passengers reported head injuries and bleeding, and said that they assisted in opening an emergency exit and helping others evacuate down the wing.[5] A passenger told reporters that the pilots "kind of saved our lives" by braking extremely hard just after touchdown, saying he believed the pilot had "incredible reflexes".[5]

The Canadian captain and first officer, Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther,[37][38] were killed as the front of the jet took the full brunt of the collision and crumpled, while 39 passengers and flight attendants, as well as 2 occupants of the firefighting truck, were hospitalized.[4] Victims were transported to either Elmhurst Hospital or NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, both of which are level 1 trauma centers.[3] Thirty-two of the injured were discharged shortly afterwards, and nine who were more seriously injured remained under hospital care.[39]

The two occupants of the ARFF truck, a Port Authority police officer and sergeant, suffered broken bones and were both transported to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens in critical but non-life threatening condition.

Aftermath

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop at the airport.[40] The airport was closed until 2 p.m. the following day. Many flights were diverted to nearby airports, mostly to John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport.[4][41] However, early on March 23, a ground stop was implemented at Newark due to smoke in the air traffic control tower, further straining air traffic in the New York metropolitan area.[42] Runway 4/22, where the incident occurred, remains closed while investigators examine the debris field.[43]

Response

US president Donald Trump called the crash "terrible" and referred to the aviation industry as "a dangerous business".[44]

Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York City described the incident as "tragic."[45]

Prime Minister Mark J. Carney of Canada, Premier François Legault of Quebec, and the Mayor of Montreal Soraya Martinez Ferrada all expressed condolences towards the victims of the crash.[46][47][48]

Institutions

Air Canada president and CEO Michael Rousseau, in a video statement released on X on behalf of the airline, expressed his "deepest sorrow for everyone affected" and was "deeply saddened by the loss of two Jazz employees".[49][50] The video led to 795 complaints received by the Commissioner of the Official Languages Committee, including from politicians in Quebec, due to Rousseau delivering condolences only in English with French subtitles, with the exception of saying two words in French.[51][52][53] Rousseau was summoned to Ottawa to appear before the Official Languages Committee on March 24 as a result, as Air Canada is subject to the Official Languages Act.[54][55] Carney said that the unilingual response from Rousseau showed "a lack of compassion" and told reporters "[w]e proudly live in a bilingual country, and companies like Air Canada particularly have a responsibility to always communicate in both official languages."[56][51][57] Rousseau had previously faced complaints in 2021 and 2022 about uniligualism in official communications.[53]

Canada's Minister of Transport Steven MacKinnon expressed disappointment that Air Canada's CEO Rousseau offered condolences only in English and not French.[58] MacKinnon also said he had spoken with his American counterpart and that Canadian officials were in New York "to get to the bottom" of the accident, while offering condolences to those affected.[5]

At a news conference at LaGuardia, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Federal Aviation Administration administrator Bryan Bedford described the deaths of the two pilots as "an absolute tragedy" and said federal authorities were working with investigators to determine the cause of the collision.[5]

Seneca Polytechnic flew its campus at half-mast in memory of the pilots, one of whom had graduated from the Polytechnic.[59]

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which acquired the Bombardier CRJ programme in 2020, released a statement acknowledging the accident calling it "tragic" and expressed their "thoughts are with everyone affected".[60]

Investigation

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) sent a team to investigate the crash.[61] The Transportation Safety Board of Canada, in accordance with international agreements, also dispatched investigators to assist the NTSB investigation.[62] NTSB subsequently noted the firefighting truck was not equipped with an ASDE-X transponder.[63]

See also

  • 2026 in aviation
  • LATAM Airlines Perú Flight 2213

Notes

  1. ^ 2 from the ARFF truck, 39 from the aircraft

References

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  27. ^ Shivonne, Adeja (March 23, 2026). "LaGuardia latest: 2 dead, 40+ injured after Air Canada jet collision". FOX 5 NY. Retrieved March 25, 2026. A Port Authority Police Department (PAPD) unit identified as "truck 1 and company," requested permission to cross the runway. The tower cleared the vehicle to cross Runway 4 at Delta before urgently issuing multiple commands to stop.
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  47. ^ Soraya Martinez, Ferrada [@SorayaMartinezF] (March 23, 2026). "Mes pensées accompagnent les familles touchées par le tragique incident impliquant un avion d'Air Canada en provenance de Montréal à l'aéroport LaGuardia, à New York. Les autorités américaines et canadiennes suivent la situation de très près" [My thoughts are with the families affected by the tragic incident involving an Air Canada aircraft arriving from Montreal at LaGuardia Airport in New York. American and Canadian authorities are monitoring the situation very closely.] (Tweet) (in Canadian French). Retrieved March 23, 2026 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  48. ^ Legault, François [@francoislegault] (March 23, 2026). "J'ai appris avec consternation le tragique accident survenu à l'aéroport de LaGuardia, à New York, impliquant un vol d'Air Canada en provenance de Montréal. Mes pensées accompagnent les proches du pilote et du copilote décédés, ainsi que toutes les personnes touchées par cet événement" [I learned with consternation of the tragic accident that occurred at LaGuardia Airport in New York, involving an Air Canada flight arriving from Montreal. My thoughts are with the loved ones of the deceased pilot and co-pilot, as well as with everyone affected by this event.] (Tweet) (in Canadian French). Retrieved March 23, 2026 – via X (formerly Twitter).
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  61. ^ @NTSB_Newsroom (March 23, 2026). "The NTSB is launching a go team to investigate the March 22 Jazz Aviation, Air Canada Express Flight 8646, CRJ900, airplane that collided with a fire truck on Runway 4 at LaGuardia Airport in New York NY. Chair Jennifer Homendy will serve as the on-scene spokesperson, accompanied by Member John DeLeeuw. The investigative team is expected to arrive today. Follow @NTSB_Newsroom for updates" (Tweet). Retrieved March 23, 2026 – via X (formerly Twitter).
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