The crushed plane after the accident
Pilots die as plane runs into fire truck on US runway
Pilots Antoine Forest, from Coteau-du-Lac, Que., and Mackenzie Gunther were killed when Air Canada Express Flight 8646, coming from Montreal, collided with a Port Authority firetruck at New York’s LaGuardia airport late Sunday night.
Air traffic audio indicates the fire truck was cleared to cross the runway before the collision.
“I messed up,” a controller can be heard saying afterward.
But as of late Monday, authorities are offering few details about the cause of the crash or air traffic control staffing, saying the investigation will take time.
Investigators say they’ve recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder.
The airport resumed operations this afternoon, but the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board says LaGuardia’s main runway, where the crash occurred, will be closed for days while evidence is gathered.
More than 40 people were hospitalized following the crash.
The two occupants of the fire truck were taken to hospital but are expected to be released, and a flight attendant who was thrown from the plane will need surgery for multiple fractures to one leg, according to her daughter.
The flight was carrying 72 passengers.
This question can’t yet be answered with certainty, but some clues exist.
First, reverse thrust appears to have been used. This can be seen on the engines mounted on the plane’s tail. It is typical on landing that pilots will activate the reverse thrust, where the engine casing slides back to redirect airflow forward.
In photos of the wreckage, the engine casing appears to be in position to provide reverse thrust.
The flight data recorder, now recovered, will indicate whether pilots activated maximum reverse thrust, possibly after spotting the truck. The cockpit voice recorder, also now recovered, would likely contain reaction from the pilots.
Both were killed.
Passenger Clément Lelièvre told The Canadian Press he believed the pilots had reacted.
“Just as the plane touched down, the pilot braked extremely hard,” said Lelièvre, a French national and frequent flyer.
This type of aircraft also has brakes on the landing gear. Both the brakes and the reverse thrust can be applied at varying levels, much like the brakes on a car.
Data from the tracking site Flightradar24 also shows the aircraft deviating to the right of the centre line as it rumbled down the runway, immediately before the crossing with taxiway D, where the collision occurred.
While it is possible the pilots steered the aircraft to avoid the fire truck, which had approached from the left, none of this is definitive.
But it will fuel questions about whether the pilots saw the fire truck enter the runway, and attempted to avoid it.
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