LaGuardia ATC audio reveals frantic ‘stop’ command before fatal crash
Hear some of the air traffic control communications before an Air Canada Express fatally collided with a truck at LaGuardia Airport.
Air traffic control audio captured dramatic radio traffic moments before and after an Air Canada Express jet collided with a fire truck on the runway at New York’s LaGuardia Airport late Sunday, March 22, killing two pilots and injuring dozens.
The Air Canada Express CRJ‑900, operated by Jazz Aviation, was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members when it collided with a Port Authority aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle just before 11:40 p.m., airport officials said.
Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said at a news conference that the fire truck was responding to a separate incident involving a United Airlines flight where there were reports of an unusual odor on board.
Garcia announced that 41 passengers and crew members were taken to hospitals. Thirty-two people have since been released, but others remain hospitalized with serious injuries. Two Port Authority employees who were on board the fire engine were also injured, and their injuries are not life-threatening, but they are currently hospitalized.
Air traffic control audio posted by LiveATC.net minutes before the crash included a discussion of United Airlines’ odor emergency, including a controller pointing out that emergency vehicles were already responding, Reuters reported. Additional recordings before and after the crash show that air traffic controllers attempted to communicate with both the plane and the fire truck in the moments leading up to the crash.
Air traffic control voice: “Stop, stop, stop”
Air traffic audio recorded before and after the crash captured the moment air traffic controllers tried to stop the truck from colliding with the airliner. According to the audio, air traffic controllers cleared the fire truck to cross Runway 4, the Delta taxiway where the collision occurred.
Immediately afterwards, air traffic controllers repeatedly tried to stop the vehicle, saying, “Stop, stop, stop, truck 1, stop, truck 1, stop.”
According to Reuters, the flight-tracking website Flightradar 24 said the plane hit the fire truck at about 20 miles per hour and last recorded data at 11:37 p.m. ET.
After the crash, air traffic controllers announced that LaGuardia Airport would be closed and relayed that information to Frontier Flight 4195, which was believed to be another flight, according to Flightradar 24. Frontier Flight 4195 was scheduled to depart the airport for Miami at 10:55 p.m., officials said. The flight was recorded telling air traffic control, “It didn’t look good.”
The air traffic controller responded, “We tried to contact the staff, but they were dealing with an emergency earlier.” “It was a mess.”
It wasn’t immediately clear what I meant by controller confusion. Frontier Flight 4195 then replied to the controller, “No, you did your best.” The audio continues with air traffic controllers telling other planes that the airport will be closed overnight.
LaGuardia state temporarily closed, flights canceled
LaGuardia Airport will remain closed until at least 2 p.m. ET on March 23, according to the Garcia Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The National Transportation Safety Board is on the scene and will lead the investigation. U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the Federal Aviation Administration would send a team to assist the NTSB with its investigation.
About 585 flights to and from the airport were canceled on Monday, according to tracking website FlightAware.
The incident came as some airports were already crowded with long security wait times and travel disruptions caused by a partial government shutdown. Absenteeism for Transportation Security Administration employees reached its highest level over the weekend since the partial shutdown began five weeks ago, leaving tens of thousands of employees without pay, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Beyond that, the crash was the latest in multiple fatal air crashes across the country in 2025, including the November 2025 crash of a UPS cargo plane in Louisville, Kentucky, which killed 15 people, and the January 2025 collision between an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. military Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River, which killed 67 people.
Contributor: N’dea Yancey-Bragg, USA TODAY; Reuters
Kate Perez covers national trends and breaking news for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kperez@usatodayco.com or X @katecperez_.
