Two pilots were killed and dozens were injured on Sunday night after an arriving planecollidedwith a fire truck on a runway at New York's LaGuardia Airport.
The incident involved Air Canada Flight 8646, which had just landed with 72 passengers and 4 crew members, and a Port Authority fire-rescue vehicle responding to a separate issue on another flight. Air traffic control audio recordings appeared to show a controller had cleared the vehicle to cross the runway before telling it to stop.
"I messed up," one air traffic controller is heard saying on the recording.
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Transport Secretary Sean Duffysaid Monday he is headedto the New York airport and that the Federal Aviation Administration, National Transportation Safety Board and the Port Authority are investigating.
Duffy told NBC News that the FAA is looking into whether ATC staffing was an issue in the incident.
Of those aboard, 41 people were treated for injuries at local hospitals, some of them seriously, Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia told a news conference early Monday. So far, 32 have been released from hospitals.
Two of the injured, a sergeant and an officer, have broken limbs and are in stable condition, according to preliminary information two sources with knowledge of the investigation told NBC News. Garcia said the two officers had non-life-threatening injuries.
Sources said the plane, a Jazz Aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada, was at the end of landing and going about 30 mph when the collision occurred at around 11:40 p.m.
Garcia said the truck was responding to an unrelated odor report on a United flight.
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In the air traffic controller audio recording, the controller said the flight attendants on the United flight were feeling ill due to the odor. In another recording, a controller is heard requesting permission to cross the runway.
Moments later, a controller repeatedly tells "Truck 1" to stop.
A video postedon social media shows a passenger jet on the runway with its cockpit high and the underside of its forward fuselage mangled.
The collision at LaGuardia's Runway 4 is the latest to hit a beleaguered aviation industry. The New York City airport will remain closed until at least 2 p.m. Monday.
"Heartbreaking news out of LaGuardia this morning," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a Monday post onX, confirming the number of deaths and injuries."Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and everyone affected."
Transport disruption in the region also worsened on Monday after a brief ground stop was issued at Newark International Airport in New Jersey following an FAA tower evacuation due to smoke in an elevator.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was a Bombardier CRJ-900 twin-jet aircraft flown by Air Canada Express, also known as Jazz Aviation, from Montreal.
NTSB sent a "go team" to the collision scene and will later send an investigative team.
Families were directed to Air Canada to find other family members who may have separated as the aircraft was evacuated — an unaccompanied minor was reunited with their family, Garcia said.
The NYPD told people to avoid the area around LaGuardia and to expect local disruptions, as all streets and airport exits are also closed.
