Two people died and at least 41 were injured after an Air Canada plane collided with a fire truck on a runway at LaGuardia airport, located in the district of Queens, New York, on Sunday night (22).
The dead are the pilot and co-pilot of the aircraft; 39 people who were on the plane and two firefighters were taken to hospitals, according to information from CNN.
LaGuardia remains closed this Monday morning (23), which creates even more pressure on American air traffic at a time of political impasse.
On Saturday (21), the President of the United States, Donald Trump, threatened to send agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from this Monday onwards to take over security at American airports, in order to pressure the Democratic opposition to approve in Congress funding for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
The partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security has lasted five weeks. Without salaries since February, TSA employees have been furloughed or resigned, generating long lines at the country’s main airports.
Sunday’s accident occurred around 11:40 pm (local time, 0:40 am on Monday Brasília time), when a Jazz Aviation aircraft operating an Air Canada flight crashed into a fire engine that was heading to respond to another incident at the airport, according to airport sources.
Authorities activated emergency protocols and ordered the closure of the airport to facilitate investigation work.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a flight suspension order at LaGuardia after the incident, and the runways are expected to remain closed until Monday afternoon.
Jazz Aviation confirmed, in a statement released in the early hours of Monday, the incident involving Air Canada flight 8646, coming from Montreal.
The aircraft, model CRJ-900, carried 72 passengers and four crew members, according to a preliminary list provided by the airline.
In turn, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced the sending of a team of investigators to the scene.
