A recent federal investigation has uncovered multiple failures in safety protocols that contributed to a tragic runway accident at New York’s LaGuardia Airport last month. The report highlights missteps in air traffic control, lapses in communication, and technological shortcomings.

On March 22, around 11:37 p.m., Jazz Aviation Flight 646, operating under Air Canada as Flight 8646, collided with an airport rescue vehicle during landing at LaGuardia. This collision resulted in the loss of the two pilots’ lives and left many others injured, as detailed in the report.

The preliminary findings from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released on Thursday indicate that the local controller in the air traffic control tower, identified in the report as the “LC,” authorized an airport rescue vehicle to cross an active runway. This decision was made even as a regional jet was nearing its final approach.

At the moment of the incident, the aircraft was approximately a quarter-mile from the runway and descending to land at about 130 feet above the ground.

The aftermath of the collision could be seen the following day, with an Air Canada jet remaining on the runway at LaGuardia Airport, having struck a Port Authority rescue and firefighting vehicle upon landing. (Photo credit: Ryan Murphy/AP)

Seconds later, the controller instructed the vehicle to stop, but the warning came too late as the aircraft touched down and continued down the runway.

Investigators pointed to confusion over radio communications that may have delayed the truck crew’s response.

“The turret operator in Truck 1 recalled hearing the words ‘stop stop stop’ (on the tower frequency) radio, but he did not know who that transmission was intended for,” the report states. “He subsequently heard ‘Truck 1 stop stop stop’ and realized it was for them and subsequently noticed that they had entered the runway.

“He further recalled that as they turned left, he saw the airplane’s lights on the runway,” the report added.

There were two controllers on duty at the time of the crash, consistent with normal staffing levels, and both were experienced and qualified for their positions.

But the tower was handling multiple issues simultaneously, including an aircraft that had performed two rejected takeoffs and a separate ground emergency near a terminal.

As the situation unfolded, the “LC” took over transmitting instructions on both ground and tower frequencies.

The report also highlights significant limitations in the airport’s safety systems.

The view from the LaGuardia Airport control tower shows Runway 4, Taxiway D, and the crash site where a regional jet collided with an airport rescue vehicle, as displayed alongside ASDE-X monitoring screens. (National Transportation and Safety Board Report)

The airport’s surface detection system, known as ASDE-X, is designed to track aircraft and ground vehicles and alert controllers to potential runway conflicts.

“Multiple ground vehicles, none of which were equipped with transponders, were intermittently detected as radar targets,” the report read. “At the time of the accident, ASDE-X displayed only two radar targets on taxiway D (near taxiway BB), rather than all seven of the response vehicles as distinct targets at their respective locations.

“A review of the ASDE-X system data by the FAA determined that the system did not generate an aural or visual alert on the ASDE-X displays in the LGA ATC tower to warn controllers of the potential runway conflict.”

The NTSB also found that another layer of protection failed to prevent the crash.

An Air Canada Express plane with a severed cockpit rests on a runway next to a damaged Port Authority fire truck at LaGuardia Airport in New York after the two collided. (Seth Wenig/AP)

Runway entrance lights, known as RELs, are designed to warn vehicles not to cross when an aircraft is approaching.

“A review of airport surveillance video recordings revealed that the RELs illuminated for the arrival of the accident airplane, as Truck 1 and company were stationary in the vicinity of the taxiway AA and taxiway D intersection,” the report said, noting the trucks were located about 300 feet away from runway 4. 

“The RELs on taxiway D remained illuminated until about the time Truck 1 reached the (near) edge of runway, when they extinguished, about 3 seconds prior to the collision.”

The report does not indicate whether the truck crew saw or reacted to the warning lights.

Taken together, investigators suggest the crash was not caused by a single error, but by a breakdown across multiple safeguards — including human decision-making, communication clarity and technological support systems.

The collision killed both pilots aboard the aircraft and injured dozens of passengers and emergency responders.

Travelers look for rides after an Air Canada Express plane collided with a fire truck on the tarmac, closing LaGuardia Airport in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The report describes a chaotic but ultimately orderly evacuation after the crash.

“The aft flight attendant reported getting in the aft jump seat for landing and described the flight as normal until he felt an impact and jar,” the report read. “He did not know what had happened and attempted to call the pilots and received no response. He reported the conditions were dark, but passengers deplaned orderly through all exits.”

Investigators said the debris field was roughly 300 feet long and 150 feet wide and was documented using drone imaging, GPS mapping and laser scanning technology.

The preliminary investigation also found that the most severe damage was concentrated at the front of the aircraft, with the cockpit and forward cabin sustaining significant structural destruction.

The report found that while the forward section was heavily crushed, the passenger cabin remained largely intact, with most seats still secured and only minor damage reported throughout much of the aircraft.

The NTSB said the information in the report is preliminary and subject to change.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released a startling report highlighting a critical oversight that possibly contributed to last month’s tragic accident at LaGuardia Airport in New York. This incident involved an Air Canada Express plane and resulted in the loss of two lives and numerous injuries when the aircraft collided with a firetruck that had been cleared to cross the runway.

According to the preliminary findings, which are still under review, the absence of a transponder on the firetruck was a significant factor in the crash. This lack of equipment meant that an automatic alert system was unable to detect the vehicle’s dangerous path towards the incoming aircraft.

The report noted, “Without transponder-equipped vehicles, the ASDE-X system could not uniquely identify each of the seven responding vehicles or reliably determine their positions, or tracks.” This deficiency prevented the system from alerting officials to the potential collision between the plane and the firetruck, referred to as Truck 1, or any of the other emergency vehicles present.

Consequently, the automated system failed to predict the impending conflict with the landing airplane, revealing a grave flaw in runway safety protocols. As investigations continue, the NTSB’s findings underscore the urgent need for enhanced safety measures to prevent such tragedies in the future.

‘As a result, the system was unable to correlate the track of the airplane with the track of Truck 1 (or any of the other vehicles in the group) and did not predict a potential conflict with the landing airplane. ‘

Truck 1, which was struck by the plane, was one of seven vehicles that were not equipped with transponders and were responding to a United Airlines flight reporting a strange odor.

That night, two air traffic controllers were working the night shift. One was a controller-in-charge with 19 years of experience, and the other was a local controller with roughly 18 years of experience.

According to the report, the local controller gave the Air Canada flight the go-ahead to land on the runway about 20 seconds before the emergency vehicles left an airport fire station.

National Transportation Safety Board released a report on Thursday revealing flaws that may have prevented the deadly crash in March at New York’s LaGuardia airport. An Air Canada Express plane crashed into a firetruck that was cleared to cross a runway, leaving two people dead and dozens injured 

The fire truck was completely destroyed by the wreck, and the pilot and co-pilot in the Air Canada aircraft were killed 

Truck 1 requested to cross the runway toward the United plane and was cleared by the local controller to do so.

The Air Canada flight was only 130ft in the air as the truck was given the clearance to cross.

About 20 seconds before the crash, the local controller began instructing the truck to stop, according to the report.

A crew member inside the firetruck told NTSB that he recalled hearing the controller pleading with them to ‘stop’ several times but did not realize the command was meant for them before entering the runway.

‘He further recalled that as they turned left, he saw the airplane’s lights on the runway,’ the report said.

Additionally, the runway’s red entrance lights may have been a factor in the incident as well.

Air Canada pilots Mackenzie Gunther, 30, (left) and Capt. Antoine Forest, 24, (right) were killed in the crash. Their bodies have since been repatriated to Canada 

According to the report the firetruck was not equipped with a transponder that would have triggered an alert from an automatic system if its path was on a collision course with the aircraft

According to the report, the lights are designed to turn on if a runway is not clear.

However, the lights were on as the Air Canada plane reached the runway and remained lit ‘until about the time Truck 1 reached the (near) edge of the runway, when they extinguished, about three seconds prior to the collision.’

The pilots killed in the crash were named as MacKenzie Gunther, 30, and Antoine Forest, 24, described by officials as young and competent pilots ‘at the start of their careers.’

A total of 40 others were hospitalized by the crash, including flight attendant Solange Tremblay, who miraculously survived being thrown 330 feet from the crash while still strapped in her seat.

BEIJING (AP) — Giant pandas are set to return to Atlanta.

China announced on Friday that it will send a pair of giant pandas to Zoo Atlanta, marking a new chapter in their panda diplomacy efforts, even amidst ongoing tensions with Washington. This decision comes less than a month before U.S. President Donald Trump’s highly anticipated visit to Beijing.

The China Wildlife Conservation Association revealed that the pandas, a male named Ping Ping and a female named Fu Shuang, hail from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. They will be part of a ten-year conservation collaboration, as per an agreement signed with the zoo last year.

While the exact date of their departure remains unspecified, the U.S. side is reportedly making significant upgrades to their facilities to ensure a safe and comfortable home for the pandas. Chinese experts are offering technical advice to assist with these improvements, the association noted.

This development comes just weeks before President Trump’s scheduled visit to China in mid-May, where he is expected to engage in discussions on a variety of topics, including trade, with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Zoo Atlanta said in a statement Thursday that it was delighted and honored to be trusted as stewards of the pandas and to partner with the association.

“We can’t wait to meet Ping Ping and Fu Shuang and to welcome our members, guests, city, and community back to the wonder and joy of giant pandas,” the zoo’s president, Raymond B. King, said.

During an earlier giant panda agreement between the zoo and China that concluded in 2024, pandas Lun Lun and Yang Yang gave birth to seven bears, the zoo said. Lun Lun and Yang Yan and their two youngest offspring left Atlanta for China in October 2024, where the rest of their offspring reside, it said.

China’s giant panda loan program has long been known as a tool of Beijing’s soft-power diplomacy, but its conservation significance could have been an important reason Beijing is renewing its cooperation with U.S. zoos at a time of otherwise sour relations.

The association said Friday that the new round of cooperation will help China and the U.S. to yield more results in areas ranging from disease prevention and treatment to scientific exchanges.

Giant pandas have long been a symbol of the U.S.-China friendship, ever since Beijing gifted a pair of pandas to the National Zoo in Washington in 1972.

In 2024, the National Zoo in Washington and the San Diego Zoo also received pandas from China.

On Friday, South Korean prosecutors called for a 30-year prison sentence for the former President Yoon Suk Yeol. The charges against him involve allegedly escalating tensions with North Korea in 2024 by ordering drone flights over Pyongyang, actions intended to justify the imposition of martial law domestically.

Yoon faces charges related to aiding an adversary and abusing his presidential powers. These charges are part of a broader array of indictments against the conservative ex-leader, stemming from his brief enforcement of martial law in South Korea in December 2024.

The prosecution’s request for Yoon’s imprisonment marks a significant development in the trial proceedings at Seoul Central District Court. Led by special prosecutor Cho Eun-suk, the investigative team accused Yoon and his senior defense officials of orchestrating drone incursions into North Korea, which occurred roughly two months before Yoon declared martial law. The prosecution argued that Yoon framed the country’s liberals as sympathizers with North Korea, depicting them as “anti-state” elements.

Yoon’s defense team, which has consistently refuted these charges, has yet to respond to the prosecution’s latest sentencing demand.

Previously, in February, the court handed Yoon a life sentence after finding him guilty on the more severe charge of rebellion. Both Yoon and the prosecution, which had pushed for a death penalty, have appealed this verdict.

Cho’s team in a statement Friday claimed that Yoon tried to create a warlike situation between the Koreas while plotting an authoritarian push to remove his political opponents and “monopolize and extend his power.”

Prosecutors are seeking a 25-year prison term for Yoon’s former defense minister, Kim Yong Hyun, a key confidant who helped plan and mobilize forces for the martial law declaration.

North Korea accused Seoul of flying drones over its capital, Pyongyang, to drop propaganda leaflets three times in October 2024. Kim initially made a vague denial, but Seoul’s Defense Ministry later switched to saying it couldn’t confirm whether or not the claims were true. Tensions with North Korea rose sharply at the time.

Yoon proceeded with his late night martial law declaration on Dec. 3, 2024, delivering a televised address in which he blasted liberals over a range of issues, but largely over their impeachments of his top officials and cuts to his government’s budget bill.

The decree lasted about six hours until a quorum of lawmakers broke through a blockade of heavily armed soldiers and police Yoon had deployed to the National Assembly. They then voted to overturn it, forcing his Cabinet to lift the measure.

Yoon was suspended from office on Dec. 14, 2024, after being impeached by the liberal-led legislature and was formally removed by the Constitutional Court in April 2025. He was arrested in July that year and has been undergoing various criminal trials since.

Though brief, Yoon’s martial law decree threw the country into a severe political crisis, paralyzing politics and high-level diplomacy and rattling financial markets. The turmoil eased only after his liberal rival Lee Jae Myung won an early presidential election in June last year.

Shortly after taking office, Lee approved legislation that launched independent investigations into Yoon’s martial law stunt and other criminal allegations involving him, his wife and associates.