BY COLE SINANIAN
cole@queensledger.com
LAGUARDIA — Chaos and delays have gripped travelers at LaGuardia after a fatal crash left two pilots dead and shut down the airport overnight.
At 11:40pm Sunday night an Air Canada plane operated by the regional carrier Jazz Aviation crashed into a Port Authority vehicle in an apparent miscommunication with Air Traffic Control. In an audio recording from the volunteer-run website LiveATC.com, an air traffic controller can be heard telling the vehicle to cross the runway, before repeatedly saying “stop” in the moments before the collision.
The aircraft — Air Canada flight 8648 — had just landed on Runway 4 from Montreal when it struck the vehicle as it crossed the tarmac. The flight’s two Canadian pilots were killed in the crash, while two Port Authority officers, identified as Sgt. Michael Orsillo and Officer Adrian Baez, were hospitalized and are in stable condition.
“First of all, my heart goes out to the families of the two pilots, Canadian pilots — certainly a very tragic outcome — and also the dozens of individuals who were injured, some seriously, some have already been discharged in the hospital,” said Governor Kathy Hochul, addressing the press on Monday morning.
She continued: “I spoke with a number of people, including Kathryn Garcia, the relatively new executive director of the Port Authority, who’s been doing all the media briefings… We’re working in close contact with them.”
The Air Canada flight carried 72 passengers and four crew members. Gothamist reported that 41 passengers were hospitalized and 32 had been released by Monday morning.
Speaking at a Monday press conference at the airport, Mayor Zohran Mamdani thanked New Yorkers whose travel plans were disrupted for their patience and vowed to support federal investigators.
“I want New Yorkers to know that the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of this accident and that we will not rest until the conclusion of that investigation,” Mamdani said. “We’ve been coordinating closely with our partners across govern ment since late last night, and we will continue to do so.
“I’m grateful for the work of dedicated first responders, including the men and women from the NYPD, the FDNY and NYCEM, who arrived on the scene within minutes, treated injuries, and handled a chaotic scene with incredible professionalism and poise,” Mamdani continued. “I also want to commend those who were thrust into a frightening accident and reacted not only with composure, but by extending a hand to the person next to them.”
The crash brought dozens of canceled flights at LaGuardia Monday morning. Meanwhile, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staffing shortages caused by an ongoing government shutdown have hampered the investigation.
At a news conference Monday, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy said that long lines at TSA have delayed the start of the investigation, with some NTSB specialists still arriving early Tuesday morning. According to a New York Times report, the NTSB had to call TSA at a Houston airport where an investigator en route to LaGuardia was caught in a 3-hour line to “beg to see if we can get her through,” Homendy said.
“It’s been a really big challenge to get the entire team here, and they’re still arriving as I speak,” she said Monday.
The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down since mid-February due to Congress’ failure to pass spending bills regarding immigration enforcement. The shutdown has left Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers around the country without pay, leading to widespread staffing shortages that have caused major delays and long lines at airports nationwide.
As of Tuesday morning, little information was available about what led to the crash as investigators have yet to have a full day on scene.
LaGuardia reopened early Monday morning, with its first flight scheduled to depart at 2pm Monday. Sunday’s incident marked the first fatal crash at LaGuardia in 34 years.
