An Air Canada Express flight 8646 from Montreal has struck a ground vehicle while landing at New York’s LaGuardia, leading to the airport’s closure.
The New York police told the AFP news agency on Monday that the Air Canada plane “collided with a port authority vehicle”. Separately, the fire department said it had “responded to a reported incident involving a plane and vehicle” on runway four.
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Air Canada in a press release said the preliminary passenger list indicates the plane was “carrying 72 passengers and 4 crew members, although this is subject to confirmation”. The incident occurred at 11.47pm (0347 GMT) local time, it added.
The CRJ-900 aircraft struck the vehicle on Sunday evening at a speed of about 24mph (39km/h), flight tracking website Flightradar24 said. It was operated by Jazz Aviation, Air Canada’s regional partner.
The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a ground stop for all departures to LaGuardia due to the aircraft emergency, with the airport closure in effect until 05:30 GMT. The probability of an extension was listed as high.
The FAA notice stated that the airport halt was due to an emergency and that there was a high probability of an extension, providing no further details.
Unverified footage on social media showed damage to the plane’s nose as it tilted upwards. The Reuters news agency could not immediately verify the footage.
LaGuardia’s website showed arriving planes had been diverted to other airports or returned to their point of origin.
In a separate notice to airmen, the FAA said the airport could be shut until 18:00 GMT.
New York’s emergency management authority warned people to “expect cancellations, road closures, traffic delays & emergency personnel” near the major transport hub in the borough of Queens.
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