Eyewitnesses describe chaos of LaGuardia crash
BBC • • general
Key Points:
- An Air Canada flight collided with a fire truck on a LaGuardia Airport runway late Sunday, killing the two pilots and injuring 41 people, some seriously; the incident caused the airport to close until Monday afternoon.
- The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has launched an investigation, analyzing the cockpit voice recorder, flight data recorder, and extensive debris from the crash site.
- Witnesses described the impact as severe, with passengers evacuating by sliding down the plane's wing; one flight attendant was found alive after falling through the aircraft floor.
- The collision occurred shortly after the fire truck was dispatched to another plane reporting an odor issue, with audio capturing a warning to stop just before the crash.
- The crash has added to travel disruptions at LaGuardia amid ongoing TSA staffing shortages caused by the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, which has affected airport security operations nationwide.
