“WHAT JUST HAPPENED?”: Haunting Air Traffic Control Audio Emerges After Deadly LaGuardia Runway Crash

An Air Canada flight collided with a firetruck at LaGuardia Airport on Sunday, killing both pilots and sending dozens to the hospital
Audio shows an air traffic controller tried to stop the crash after the emergency vehicle on the ground was initially given the go-ahead to cross
LaGuardia was set to be closed until at least 2 p.m. on Monday as the incident is now under investigation

Audio has been released of the air traffic controllers working at LaGuardia Airport in New York City when a deadly crash occurred on the runway on Sunday, March 22.

An Air Canada flight collided with a firetruck. The pilot and co-pilot were killed.

In the audio from air traffic control, a controller is heard giving the go-ahead to cross before a controller is then heard shouting, “Stop, stop, stop, stop, truck 1, stop, stop, stop.”

“Stop, truck 1, stop!” the controller says again, according to the audio.

It’s unclear how the truck responded in the moments before the collision.

Later, two unidentified air traffic controllers are heard discussing the incident, with one saying, “I got the word that we’re gonna be closed for a little while” before the other notes, “That wasn’t good to watch.”

The first air traffic controller then says, “Yeah, I know. I was there. I was trying to reach out to ’em to stop. We were dealing with an emergency earlier. I messed up.”

His colleague assures him, “Nah, man, you did the best you could.”

The scene after an Air Canada flight collided with a firetruck at LaGuardia Airport on March 22.TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty

Around 11:40 p.m. local time on Sunday, a Jazz Aviation flight being operated on behalf of Air Canada crashed into an aircraft rescue and firefighting (or ARFF) vehicle on LaGuardia’s runway four as the truck was “responding to a separate incident” at the airport, the National Transportation Safety Board and LaGuardia both confirmed on X.

Of the 72 passengers and four crew members on board the CRJ-900 aircraft, Flight 8646 from Montreal to LaGuardia, 41 were transported to the hospital and 32 had since been released, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s executive director, Kathryn Garcia, said in a news conference.

Emergency responders at the scene after an Air Canada flight collided with a firetruck at LaGuardia Airport on March 22.TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP via Getty

“The pilot and co-pilot of the Jazz Aviation flight were pronounced deceased,” a Port Authority spokesperson confirmed in a statement to PEOPLE.

“Additionally, 41 people were transported to the hospital, 39 people on the aircraft and two ARFF officers,” the spokesperson said.