NTSB Probes Fatal LaGuardia Runway Collision Between CRJ900, Fire Truck

The National Transportation Safety Board released preliminary findings March 25 regarding the fatal runway collision at New York's LaGuardia Airport. An Air Canada Express Bombardier CRJ900 struck an airport rescue and firefighting vehicle on Runway 4 during touchdown March 22, killing both pilots and injuring 41 passengers.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said investigators are viewing the incident as a series of overlapping failures rather than a single cause. Key technical issues include failure of the ASDE-X runway safety system, designed to alert controllers to aircraft-vehicle conflicts but which malfunctioned due to conflicting log data.

ATC actions remain under review as controllers initially cleared the fire truck to cross the runway before issuing stop commands. Investigators are examining communication clarity, controller workload and staffing levels at the time of the incident. The runway remains closed for evidence documentation and hazardous material cleanup, delaying operations at the busy hub.