Eyewitnesses have described the moment Air Canada flight AC8646 crashed into a fire truck on the runway of New York's LaGuardia airport, killing two pilots and injuring dozens of others.
We were literally like 100 metres away, says 23-year-old Leo Medina, who was onboard another plane on the tarmac when the crash happened. It was like the plane got cut in half. He told the BBC he then had to return to the gate and had been waiting in the airport for more than 12 hours, sleeping on the floor on a bed of jackets.
After visiting the crash site on Monday, US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said he was reminded of the importance of wearing seat belts - on an aircraft or in any other mode of transportation. As you see from last night, they do save lives, Duffy said during a news conference.
Québec native Antoine Forest, 30, was identified as one of the Air Canada pilots who died in the collision, according to reports in Canadian media. The other pilot has not yet been named. These were two young men at the start of their career, so it's an absolute tragedy, FAA administrator Bran Bedford said.
In addition to killing the two pilots, the incident, which happened at 23:40 local time on Sunday (03:40 GMT on Monday) injured 41 people who were taken to hospital, some with serious injuries. Passenger Rebecca Liquori, who was on the plane, which was arriving from Montreal when it hit the truck, reported a loud boom just after landing.
Describing the terrifying moments, Liquori noted, We landed very roughly… Everyone felt it. It was like the plane jolted and you heard the pilot try to brake trying to prevent the collision. Other passengers helped each other escape through the wings after the crash.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani described it as a tragic collision and said the National Transportation Safety Board was investigating the incident. The crash occurred during a tumultuous time in air travel, raising concerns over TSA staffing shortages and operational efficiency at US airports.
