NTSB Report Points to Communication Failures in LaGuardia Crash That Killed Two Canadian Pilots

The US National Transportation Safety Board has published its preliminary report into last month's deadly collision between a Jazz Aviation regional jet operating as Air Canada Express and an airport rescue vehicle at New York's LaGuardia Airport, finding that overlapping communication failures, missing technology and split-second confusion all contributed to the disaster. The crash on March 22 killed both Canadian pilots and injured dozens more.

The 70-page preliminary report, released on April 23, does not assign a single cause but lays out a chain of events that unfolded in less than 20 seconds, from the moment the regional jet was given clearance to cross runway 4 to the moment it struck the airport rescue truck. Investigators emphasised that the document is preliminary and that the final report, with formal findings and recommendations, is still many months away.

Who was on the plane

The flight was Jazz Aviation flight 646, operating under the Air Canada Express brand on a route originating from a Canadian regional airport. The two pilots, Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther, were killed in the collision. The cabin crew and dozens of passengers survived but several were seriously injured.

The aircraft was a Bombardier-built regional jet, a workhorse of the Canadian regional fleet. The pilots were employed by Halifax-based Jazz Aviation, the largest of Air Canada's regional partners. The aircraft was on its final approach phase when, after touchdown, it collided with a fire rescue truck that had entered the runway as part of a separate response.

What the NTSB found

The preliminary report identifies several factors that overlapped in the seconds before the collision. According to the document, one of the firefighters in the rescue truck heard a radio call from the LaGuardia tower telling somebody to "stop, stop, stop," but did not realise the message was directed at the truck. The crew continued onto the runway, where the aircraft, still rolling at landing speed, struck the vehicle.

Investigators highlighted that the fire trucks responding to the unrelated call were not equipped with transponders. As a result, the airport's surface detection system, known as ASDE-X, could not uniquely identify each of the seven responding vehicles or accurately determine their positions and tracks. The system did not generate either an aural or a visual warning to controllers in the seconds before the collision.

The runway entrance lights, the red lights designed to warn vehicles and aircraft against entering an active runway, were lit for most of the sequence. The NTSB found that those lights were illuminated until approximately three seconds before the collision, an interval too short for the rescue crew to respond.

Two air traffic controllers were on duty in the LaGuardia tower at the time, with 18 and 19 years of experience respectively. Both were qualified and current on all control positions at the airport, and had been at their stations for between 40 and 50 minutes when the collision occurred. The NTSB has not flagged staffing shortages as a contributing factor in the preliminary phase.

Communication breakdown

The most striking element of the preliminary report is the description of the moment the tower issued its stop warning. The firefighter who heard the message later told investigators that he was uncertain whether it was directed at his crew, given the multiple vehicles and aircraft moving simultaneously across the airport surface in response to a separate emergency.

Investigators noted that under current procedures, controllers do not always identify each vehicle by call sign when issuing urgent surface instructions, particularly during a fast-moving emergency response. The report does not identify a sole cause, but lays out a constellation of overlapping technical, procedural and communication issues that converged in those final seconds.

Reaction in Canada

The preliminary findings have intensified questions in Canada about runway-incursion safety, air traffic control procedures and the rules governing how regional carriers are integrated with US-based airline brands. Air Canada and Jazz Aviation issued separate statements expressing condolences to the families of the pilots and pledging full cooperation with both the NTSB-led investigation and any parallel review by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

Transport Canada said it is reviewing the preliminary findings and will work with US authorities and Canadian operators to identify lessons applicable to Canadian airports, particularly those that share elements of the LaGuardia design and traffic profile. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada, which routinely participates in cross-border investigations, has assigned investigators to the file.

The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents both Jazz Aviation pilots and counterparts at major US carriers, said the preliminary report reinforces longstanding concerns about runway-incursion technology and the absence of mandatory transponders on airport rescue vehicles. The union called for accelerated implementation of new technology and tighter procedures both at LaGuardia and across North America.

What it means for Canadian travellers

The crash and its aftermath have highlighted how deeply Canadian aviation is integrated with the United States network. Jazz Aviation operates a substantial portion of Air Canada's North American regional flying, with daily services into airports across the eastern seaboard. LaGuardia is a high-density airport with limited room for error on its runway grid, and Canadian regional jets fly through it many times a day.

The preliminary report does not recommend specific changes, and Air Canada has continued normal operations on the route. But Canadian aviation observers have flagged a series of policy questions that the final report will need to address, including transponder mandates, the integration of fire and rescue vehicles into airport surface detection systems, and procedures for emergency clearances during fast-moving responses.

Family members of the two Canadian pilots have asked for privacy as the investigation continues, and have indicated through legal counsel that they are reviewing the preliminary report carefully.

The path to a final report

NTSB preliminary reports typically appear within 30 days of an accident and are followed by a final report that can take 12 to 24 months to complete. The final document will include formal probable-cause findings and recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration, airlines and airport operators.

The preliminary report is also expected to inform parallel reviews by the Federal Aviation Administration, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and Canadian regulators. The FAA has come under increased scrutiny in recent years over runway-incursion data, with the volume of close calls climbing across the US system.

For Canadian families, regulators and the airline industry, the LaGuardia investigation will be one of the most closely watched aviation safety files of 2026. The preliminary report has answered some questions about how the collision unfolded, but the final document, with its formal recommendations, will determine whether structural changes follow on both sides of the border.

What's next

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is expected to issue a parallel report focused on Canadian operational considerations later this year. The NTSB's investigators will continue to gather evidence, including additional cockpit voice recorder analysis, interviews with airport personnel and a deeper review of the ASDE-X system's performance.

For now, the families of Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther, the surviving passengers and crew, and the broader Canadian aviation community are left with a preliminary picture of an accident that, the NTSB report makes clear, was the product of multiple failures rather than a single point of error.