Kreindler Investigating Deadly Collision Between Air Canada Jet and Fire Truck at Laguardia Airport in New York
What Happened
Air Canada Express Bombardier CRJ-900 Airplane
On Sunday, March 22, 2026, at approximately 11:40 p.m., an Air Canada Express airplane, flight 8646, operated by Jazz Aviation LP, struck a New York Port Authority ARFF (Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting vehicle) while landing on Runway 4 at LaGuardia Airport in New York, New York. The pilot and the co-pilot of the Air Canada aircraft were killed and dozens more were injured, including flight crew, airplane passengers and two Port Authority first responders, in this tragic crash. The Port Authority fire truck was responding to a separate incident at LaGuardia involving a United Airlines aircraft at the time of the crash. The Air Canada Express flight originated from Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal, Quebec.
Air traffic controllers have a critical and non-delegable safety responsibility to ensure that the active runway is protected and ready for proper and safe surface traffic management and coordination.
Partner and Veteran Military pilot Daniel Rose on Fox 5 News, discussing the collision between an Air Canada airplane and a Port Authority fire truck on the runway at LaGuardia
Reports indicate that Air Traffic Control (ATC) had cleared the Air Canada Bombardier CRJ-900 aircraft to land on Runway 4, then also cleared the Port Authority firefighting vehicle to cross Runway 4 en route to the United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft that had declared an emergency due to an "odor" in the cabin.
In the Media
Partner and Veteran Military pilot Daniel Rose on Fox 5's Good Day New York, regarding the tragic Air Canada plane and Port Authority fire truck collision at LaGuardia
Partner Kevin Mahoney on NBC News 4 New York discussing the collision between an Air Canada airplane and a Port Authority fire truck at LaGuardia Airport
According to news reports, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the collision and will coordinate with other federal, state, and local agencies, including the Port Authority Police Department and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) Accident Investigation Team. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has sent investigators to LaGuardia Airport to assist the NTSB.
Statute of Limitations and Notice of Claim
The Statute of Limitations (SOL) for filing a lawsuit is 1 year from the date of the accident. And a Notice of Claim (NOC) must be filed at least 60 days before filing a lawsuit.
Kreindler Attorneys Published Warnings About Air Traffic Control Crisis
Partner Kevin Mahoney's January 2025 article for the New York Law Journal on the alarming series of recent near collisions
Kreindler lawyers have written numerous articles and appeared on national media for years regarding the Air Traffic Control crisis that has existed for a long time.
JANUARY 2025
The New York Law Journal published Kreindler partner Kevin Mahoney’s 2025 article about the increasing likelihood of a major aviation collision only hours before the American Airlines Army Black Hawk D.C. collision.
DECEMBER 2023
Kreindler Partner Brian Alexander wrote about the burgeoning Air Traffic Control crisis. Practically born on the tarmac, Alexander’s father was a career air traffic controller and his mother worked for American Airlines. While in the service, U.S. Army Captain Alexander was based at Fort Belvoir and frequently flew helicopters along the same path as the doomed January 29th flight.
Kreindler Partner Erin Applebaum warned on the Aviation Geeks podcast that, because of government delays in addressing the Air Traffic Control labor crisis, a catastrophic aviation collision in the U.S. was inevitable.
Kreindler Air Traffic Control and FAA Cases
Kreindler has a long history of successfully investigating and prosecuting Air Traffic Control (ATC) cases against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Kreindler’s partial list of cases that involved air traffic control failures includes:
2025 Washington, D.C. Midair Collision between Army Blackhawk Helicopter & American Eagle Jet
Hudson River mid-air collision, New York, NY
Piper Cherokee airplane crash, Prince George’s County, MD
Piper 425 Conquest airplane crash, Islip, NY
Piper Lance airplane crash, Great Smoky Mountains, TN
Cirrus SR20 airplane crash, Stewart International Airport, Newburgh, NY
Korean Airlines Flight 801 Boeing 747 airplane crash, Asan, Guam
Continental Airlines Flight 1404 Boeing 737 airplane crash, Denver, CO
Socata TBM 700 airplane crash - New Bedford, MA
Socata TBM 700 airplane crash - Morristown, NJ
Swedish Student Pilots aircraft collision, California Cessna 172 aircraft collision, Farmingdale, NY
Hawker Beechcraft BE35 airplane crash, Bethpage - Long Island, NY
Kreindler Runway Cases
Kreindler attorneys have represented numerous victims of Airplane runway accidents, including:
Learjet Collision with Port Authority Truck - LaGuardia Airport, New York, NY
Non-Solicitation Rule for Aviation Accident Attorneys
Be wary of any unscrupulous attorney, law firm or representative of a law firm that reaches out to an injured victim without having been asked to do so. Law firms and attorneys are barred from making unsolicited, first contact with a victim for the first 45 days following an accident that involves an air carrier providing interstate or foreign air transportation and any foreign air carrier accident that occurs in the United States.
Air traffic controllers have a critical and non-delegable safety responsibility to ensure that the active runway is protected and ready for proper and safe surface traffic management and coordination.
