“I messed up”: harrowing ATC audio emerges after fatal LaGuardia crash
The recordings reconstruct the full sequence. The controller had cleared a Port Authority rescue vehicle to cross Runway 4 to assist a United Airlines flight that had aborted takeoff
“We were dealing with an emergency earlier and I messed up.” The air traffic controller’s voice at New York’s LaGuardia Airport sounds shaken in tower frequency recordings released through LiveATC.net, barely twenty minutes after an Air Canada plane collided with a fire truck on the runway, killing the pilot and copilot.
The recordings reconstruct the full sequence. The controller had cleared a Port Authority rescue vehicle to cross Runway 4 to assist a United Airlines flight that had aborted takeoff after reporting an unusual odour in the cabin. Seconds later, realising the Air Canada jet was approaching the same runway, he tried to stop the truck: Stop, stop, stop, stop, Truck 1, stop! It was too late.
After the impact, the controller addressed the aircraft: Jazz 646, I see you collided with vehicle here, just hold position. I know you can’t move. The vehicles are responding to you now. Another pilot whose plane was on the ground described the scene: That wasn’t good to watch.
Audio from Air Traffic Control when plane collided with fire truck at New York airport:
Stop Truck 1, stop!
We were dealing with an emergency earlier and I messed up pic.twitter.com/7dJcFov4gq
— BNO News (@BNONews) March 23, 2026
In the most revealing exchange, recorded minutes later, the controller acknowledged his error: I tried to reach out to them. I stopped and we were dealing with an emergency earlier and I messed up. The grounded pilot tried to reassure him: No man, you did the best you could.
The recordings will be a central piece in the investigation being conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which has deployed a team of experts and confirmed the recovery of the flight data recorder. Mary Schiavo, former inspector general of the US Department of Transportation, said that once the plane was cleared to land, it owned that runway, according to CNN. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has faced a chronic controller shortage estimated at 3,000 vacancies, though industry sources note LaGuardia is not a tower with recurring staffing problems. The crash occurred during the overnight shift, when towers typically operate with fewer controllers.
Flight AC8646, a Bombardier CRJ-900 operated by Jazz Aviation on behalf of Air Canada, had departed Montreal with 72 passengers and four crew members. The collision occurred at approximately 11:40 p.m. local time on Sunday on Runway 4, the first fatal crash at LaGuardia in more than three decades. Preliminary data indicates the plane was travelling between 93 and 105 mph at the moment of impact. AFP images show the cockpit completely destroyed and the truck overturned on grass adjacent to the runway. A flight attendant was found alive roughly 100 metres from the aircraft, still strapped into her seat, which was ejected through the fuselage.
A total of 41 passengers and crew were hospitalised; 32 have been released. The two firefighters in the truck were injured but are expected to recover. President Donald Trump called the crash terrible: They made a mistake. It’s a dangerous business. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney described it as deeply saddening.CompartirContenido del proyectoMercoPressCreado por tiAgrega PDF, documentos u otro texto para consultar en este proyecto.
