Dozens injured and airport closed after landing plane collides with fire truck reportedly operated by police

Crashed plane on runway.

The pilot and co-pilot of an Air Canada Express regional jet have been killed after it collided with a fire truck while landing at New York’s LaGuardia airport, in an incident that closed the airport.

NBC News, which reported the deaths, said dozens of others were injured in the incident late on Sunday.

The news channel said the fire truck was being operated by police officers, citing sources. It had earlier said a sergeant and an officer had broken limbs and were in stable condition at a hospital.

The Air Canada Express CRJ-900 plane, operated by its partner Jazz Aviation, was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members from Montreal, based on a preliminary passenger list that remained subject to confirmation. Jazz is owned by Chorus Aviation.

The aircraft struck the fire vehicle while doing about 24mph, according to the flight-tracking website Flightradar24, which last recorded data at 11.37pm.

Photos taken by Reuters after the accident showed damage to the nose of the plane, which was tilted upward.

Authorities and emergency agencies did not offer any immediate comments on deaths or injuries.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the airport was expected to remain closed until 2pm on Monday. Flightradar24 said 18 flights had been diverted to other airports, mostly in the New York area, or returned to their point of origin.

Air Canada referred Reuters to Jazz’s statement and said it was aware of the incident. The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the firefighting vehicle was responding to a separate incident at LaGuardia when it was struck by the aircraft on runway 4.

New York City’s emergency notification system said people could expect cancellations, road closures, traffic delays and emergency personnel near the airport.