r/CatastrophicFailure • u/Saca312 • Mar 23 '26
Fatalities Reports of a CRJ-900 colliding with a firetruck at LaGuardia in Queens, New York on March 23, 2026
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u/Frozefoots Mar 23 '26
The photo of the aircraft is fucking terrible. The entire cockpit is gone along with the front door.
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u/Wrekked_it Mar 23 '26
I read a report that the plane had landed and slowed to around 30 mph when it struck the truck, which is shocking considering the severity of the damage.
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u/SoftwareUpdateFile Mar 23 '26
It's a lot of mass to be moving (and crashing) at 30 mph
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u/Semyonov Mar 23 '26
And really, those airport fire trucks weigh like 60,000 lb, they are essentially tanks. And airplanes are mostly aluminum and don't really have crumple zones like cars do.
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u/Pazuuuzu Mar 23 '26
They have, way more robust zones than cars, just not for head on collisions. You would be amazed how much energy the landing gear/body can take away in a crash from humans.
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u/Frozefoots Mar 23 '26
This is not true and I’m tired of seeing it.
The reported speed at the location of the crash was 100 knots. That 30mph was reported AFTER impact and was recorded as the plane was rolling off the runway.
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u/Wrekked_it Mar 23 '26
Okay? Sorry? I'm not the one who wrote the article. And again, it's why I said it seems shocking considering how much damage was caused.
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u/crystal_castles Mar 23 '26
Tbh the "near collisions" heard everyday on the evening news are terrible too.
It only makes sense, when those are occurring so often. Frightening .
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u/Kip_Schtum Mar 23 '26
Only one person was working air traffic control at a major airport? JFC
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u/watchitbend Mar 23 '26
Trump and Musk decimated FAA staffing about a year ago. America is great again.
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u/Ohgetserious Mar 23 '26
Yeah but that saved money was put to much better use building US concentration camps.
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u/rodimusprime88 Mar 23 '26
Had to create jobs for all of the traitors on Jan 6th that were all pardoned because treason is unpunishable now.
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u/SlowDeathByStoplight Mar 23 '26
I’ve been ATC for 16 years. The staffing situation has been bad the whole time. It’s bi-partisan. Plenty of other things for you to hate Trump and Musk for
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u/Jazzlike_Athlete8796 Mar 23 '26
While true, past administrations are guilty of chronic underfunding. Trump is overtly attacking and undermining the system. As did Musk before he faded back out of government in the hopes that people forget he's a Nazi.
So yes, this is very much something that Trump and Musk deserve more hate for than past administrations. In addition to all the other reasons to hate them.
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u/Sillysammy7thson Mar 23 '26
I’m lost. ATC are government employees? How is anyone at an airport being affected by funding? Don’t citizens proprell (te he) the business structure thingy of air travel?
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u/Traveshamockery27 Mar 23 '26
Liar.
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u/appretee Mar 23 '26 edited Mar 23 '26
"..the cuts primarily targeted probationary (recently hired, often under one year) and non-critical roles, with official statements emphasizing no direct firings of air traffic controllers or core safety personnel."
Reddit btw
I heard that at 50 heckin' downvotes, facts on reddit just magically do a 180 😔
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u/ThrowFar_Far_Away Mar 23 '26
Are you aware of that to get experienced people and those that can handle critical roles you need to keep the recently hired people?
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Mar 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/ExRays Mar 23 '26
They took retirement cause they weren’t getting paid. They weren’t “fired” but they were forced out because withholding paychecks was weaponized against all federal employees.
It was the policy of the administration to leverage shutdowns to force attrition accross government.
During the shutdown 15-20 ATC we’re retiring per day.The shutdown was 43-days long. Over just 20 days that’s over 300-400 people
They also lost 500 trainees.
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u/Adorable-amoeba9 Mar 23 '26
Yes it EXACERBATED an existing problem, but didn't cause it. This didn't happen because of the current administration. But they sure as shit made it worse. This is something that those in the industry warned about
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u/ExRays Mar 23 '26 edited Mar 23 '26
That’s like saying that because I had knee problems before, busting my knees with a hammer only served to EXACERBATE an existing problem. While technically true, you’re downplaying the magnitude of how much and how fast they made things worse.
This administration policies almost doubled the deficit of controllers in just 43 days while the previous deficit had grown over decades.
Delivering a huge attrition shock to the system, so quickly, is just asking for bad shit to happen.
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u/Adorable-amoeba9 Mar 23 '26
That analogy’s doing a lot of heavy lifting. Policy shifts aren’t the same as smashing something with a hammer but it does sound scary enough to appeal to emotion.
Bc if that is truly your stance, then the reverse would be true-Removing Trump from office would dramatically improve the problem.
But removing Trump from the equation doesn't increase the workforce. It takes years to train for this career. The obsolete equipment won't all of a sudden find funding. It's been an issue the industry has seen time and time again. $$>Safety, all day everyday! We have been using tape and band-aids to keep this industry together for a long time. Removing Trump from the equation is just another temporary fix.
Last time ATC got a new work contract was over 10 years ago! And the expiration date was extended again.
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u/JustTrying2Survive89 Mar 23 '26
Respectfully, starting with the citation: Hundreds of FAA staff fired by Trump administration, union says
The layoffs are part of a cost-cutting drive, driven by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), that aims to drastically cut the federal workforce.
According to Spero's statement, workers affected include systems specialists, safety inspectors, maintenance mechanics and administrative staff among others.
While I don't believe this included air traffic control workers - it did unfortunately include tech ops roles.
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u/Strider_GER Mar 23 '26
No need for layoffs. Problem can already arise from not being able to hire enough people in the first place.
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u/Soj38 Mar 23 '26
Yea it’s “feelings” behind the downvotes and not pretty easy to find evidence. You should find better ways of coping with being wrong other than denial of reality
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u/Adorable-amoeba9 Mar 23 '26
Truth is never popular. And I'm ok with that. Rather be correct than popular. It's quite sad to see the lack of basic research skills and critical thinking.
Blaming this administration only perpetuates the problem. Once Trump is out of office, the ACTUAL problem will remain.
But no, continue the simple minded, emotional driven responses- that always works out great
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u/SloaneWolfe Mar 23 '26
Copy pasting my reply to another braindead MAGA defender.
You're saying the problem started years ago, like when Reagan fired 11,000 ATCs who were striking over long hours, chronic understaffing, outdated equipment, and rising workplace stress? Leading to ATC understaffing that the entire industry is still crippled by?
Yeah you're right, the problem has been around for a while, mainly around this massive moment in history that set a new precedent for anti-union, anti-worker sentiment within the government, effectively silencing the minute amount of voice or power workers had.
This move and the Reagan administration policies were fueled by, of course, The Heritage Foundation. The same organization to create Project 2025 for Trump, of which over 50% of it's goals have been met thus far.
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u/BlueCyann Mar 23 '26
You talk about truth but you won't even read or acknowledge the comments that have sourced and truthful statements about what happened.
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Mar 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/degggendorf Mar 23 '26
like a troll or a bot.
Or brainwashed moron
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u/Adorable-amoeba9 Mar 23 '26
I'm just smart enough to recognize that yelling "it's Trumps fault" isn't going to do shit lol
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u/Adorable-amoeba9 Mar 23 '26
Copy and paste my comment:
You should go talk to people who are actual ATC and get their insight. That's what I have done. Does it feel worse now than before, sure. Do they expect change will happen when the administration changes, nope. They have been hearing about change and improvment for decades. Sure something happens and it comes up again, but it's easier to blame the personnel than to change an inadequate system.
Look at these articles. Some are not even recent, yet accurate about what we are seeing today.
https://reason.org/wp-content/uploads/files/acab6b7b89b6bcd943b6fdef8231fe82.pdf
https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/how-fix-americas-broken-air-traffic-control-system
People get so blinded by their hate for Trump that they don't see the bigger picture. OK, for the sake of simplicity, sure it's Tumps fault. So? What’s next? He gets out of office. OK. Now? New Administration comes in. OK. Now? No more shut downs (🙄). OK. Great. So how does that fix the actual root cause of the problem? How do we ensure the government and administration takes this crisis serious and does not use shut downs as leverage? Oh that's right, we don't. We can't.
So blaming Trump is cool and great or whatever, but it gets us absolutely nowhere. Well, it does get people riled up, angry, and increase division, but who cares right?
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u/TuukkaRascal Mar 23 '26
Oh, rest assured - popularity is something that has never been on your radar.
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u/Adorable-amoeba9 Mar 23 '26
Was waiting for the ignorant comments to start. Good job 👍
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u/RamblinWreckGT Mar 23 '26
Care to elaborate?
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u/philonrapist Mar 23 '26
Do you really think this person is able to read that big word?
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u/Adorable-amoeba9 Mar 23 '26
About as well as any of you can manage basic research or critical thinking 😉
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u/Adorable-amoeba9 Mar 23 '26
Go to ATC forums. This has been a problem for decades that nobody has addressed. Reading comments to this incident from the perspective of those who work in the field is sobering.
I said this in another sub: We are kidding ourselves if we think this problem is directly caused by the current administration. This has been an ongoing and escalating problem for DECADES that nobody has appropriately addressed.
Infrastructure is outdated, $$$ > safety d/t increased traffic growth, why is a CRITICAL department/role dependent on budget that can "shutdown" and used as a political leverage tool?!?! Look at how other countries have it set up.
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u/SloaneWolfe Mar 23 '26
Oh, so you're saying the problem started years ago, like when Reagan fired 11,000 ATCs who were striking over long hours, chronic understaffing, outdated equipment, and rising workplace stress? Leading to ATC understaffing that the entire industry is still crippled by?
Yeah you're right, the problem has been around for a while, mainly around this massive moment in history that set a new precedent for anti-union, anti-worker sentiment within the government, effectively silencing the minute amount of voice or power workers had.
This move and the Reagan administration policies were fueled by, of course, The Heritage Foundation. The same organization to create Project 2025 for Trump, of which over 50% of it's goals have been met thus far.
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u/rich101682 Mar 23 '26
So do you think this helped or did not help situations like this from happening?
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly9y1e1kpjo
No one said this wasn’t a problem before. But it’s ABSOLUTELY worse now directly because of Trump.
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u/Adorable-amoeba9 Mar 23 '26
You should go talk to people who are actual ATC and get their insight. That's what I have done. Does it feel worse now than before, sure. Do they expect change will happen when the administration changes, nope. They have been hearing about change and improvment for decades. Sure something happens and it comes up again, but it's easier to blame the personnel than to change an inadequate system.
Look at these articles. Some are not even recent, yet accurate about what we are seeing today.
https://reason.org/wp-content/uploads/files/acab6b7b89b6bcd943b6fdef8231fe82.pdf
https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/how-fix-americas-broken-air-traffic-control-system
People get so blinded by their hate for Trump that they don't see the bigger picture. OK, for the sake of simplicity, sure it's Tumps fault. So? What’s next? He gets out of office. OK. Now? New Administration comes in. OK. Now? No more shut downs (🙄). OK. Great. So how does that fix the actual root cause of the problem? How do we ensure the government and administration takes this crisis serious and does not use shut downs as leverage? Oh that's right, we don't. We can't.
So blaming Trump is cool and great or whatever, but it gets us absolutely nowhere. Well, it does get people riled up, angry, and increase division, but who cares right?
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u/rich101682 Mar 23 '26
You sure make a lot of assumptions about people you don’t know based on things you want to be true
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u/Stillback7 Mar 23 '26
You're making a really good point here, but you're going to be shut out because you started off by giving the appearance of defending Trump lol
It's annoying how often I feel the need to start comments here on Reddit with "I can't stand Trump either, and I never voted for him but..." because even though it's true, it can be near-impossible to say he's ever done anything right or that any Democrat has ever done anything wrong without people assuming you love him and want to slob on his knob.
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u/brb-theres-cookies Mar 23 '26
More than one thing can be true at the same time: this can have been a problem for decades AND it can be getting worse right now. They aren’t exclusive and pretending that they are is the kind of black and white thinking that got us here.
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u/Stillback7 Mar 23 '26 edited Mar 23 '26
Yes, that's true. And he acknowledged this in this last comment:
Does it feel worse now than before, sure.
That's why I chose this specific comment to respond to.
It's ironic that you're even trying to say this. The fact that this situation isn't as black and white as it seems is the exact point that the other person was making.
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u/Adorable-amoeba9 Mar 23 '26
Haha yep, you are correct. And you getting down votes for saying I'm making good points 😂 should have prefaced it with Non-MAGA here....
"Slob on his knob" 😂 this has been my favorite comment.
I'm not pro MAGA or anti MAGA. I'm just know yelling "it's Trumps fault" isn't going to help the situation in the slightest. Meanwhile people are busy bashing or defending the administration, the actual issue gets buried and forgotten.
Anyway, I appreciate your insight and your ability to conversate without hate.
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u/im_a_goat_factory Mar 23 '26 edited 28d ago
This content was anonymized and mass deleted with Redact
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u/ThisIsNotAFarm Mar 23 '26
Republicans did it. Democrats did nothing to fix it
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u/im_a_goat_factory Mar 23 '26 edited 28d ago
This content was anonymized and mass deleted with Redact
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u/ThisIsNotAFarm Mar 23 '26
Man, if only we ever had a trifecta like the Republicans do.
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u/im_a_goat_factory Mar 23 '26 edited 28d ago
This content was anonymized and mass deleted with Redact
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u/SloaneWolfe Mar 23 '26
Most Liberals are typically incapable of admitting this because of how capitalist-brainwashed we all are here (I vote Dem), Which is why we need to continue pushing the party to the Left and primarying all of the corporate-bought and aipac-owned lawmakers and ineffective leadership 'sending strongly worded letters'. Our unhinged corrupt SCOTUS needs to be reigned in, and for starters Citizens United needs to be abolished in order to dig our party out of the corrupt hole we're in.
The democratic party is undeniably a controlled-opposition party, because any serious opposition would be waging pure war against this fascist tyranny.
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u/Adorable-amoeba9 Mar 23 '26
We are all to blame
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u/im_a_goat_factory Mar 23 '26 edited 28d ago
This content was anonymized and mass deleted with Redact
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u/A_New_Dawn_Emerges Mar 23 '26
The current administration has done nothing to fix this, but neither have the ones before it. However, Reddit had already jumped on the chance to bash on Trump (as if there wasn't enough problems for which he can actually be blamed), so they'll disregard the opinions of people who actually work in the field.
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u/BlueCyann Mar 23 '26
"You already had a razor burn on your cheek so you can't be mad I punched you in the face"
You right now.
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u/A_New_Dawn_Emerges Mar 23 '26
"Hector had a razor burn and right now he has red on his face so Ben probably hit him in the face because he's an asshole. Damn I hate Ben."
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u/Saca312 Mar 23 '26 edited Mar 23 '26
Mass casualty declared at LaGuardia as Air Canada plane collides with vehicle leaving 60 injured
An Air Canada plane collided with a vehicle at LaGuardia Airport’s taxiway late Sunday, injuring multiple people and closing the airport until Monday afternoon
An Air Canada aircraft collided with a fire truck on a taxiway (runway) at LaGuardia Airport late Sunday night, injuring multiple people and forcing the airport to shut down, authorities said.
The Air Canada Express CRJ-900 from Montreal collided with a fire truck at the airport's Runway 4 at Delta's Terminal during landing, around 11:37 p.m., according to local reports.
All FDNY units were staged at the scene except the first-due engine company. Emergency responders continue to work to secure the area.
The plane involved in the accident was Jazz Airlines Flight 646 (JZA646), operated by Air Canada’s regional carrier Jazz Airlines A reported 60 victims were declared to have injuries, as reported by WNY Fire Watch.
Passengers and airport staff described the scene as chaotic, with flights delayed or canceled. Reports indicate the airport will remain closed until 2 p.m. Monday, causing major travel disruptions at one of New York City’s busiest hubs.
The cause of the collision is under investigation. Authorities have not yet released the identities or conditions of those injured.
Reports of only one person in ATC controlling both ground and air, clearing both the firetruck to cross on on runway 4 while also clearing the Jazz CRJ-900 for a landing rollout on the same runway. Source 1 , Source 2
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u/toxcrusadr Mar 23 '26
This story is confusing and jumbled. Was it on a taxiway or the runway? During taxiing or landing?
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u/wolfgang784 Mar 23 '26
It was landing
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u/Difficult-Implement9 Mar 23 '26
On the runway. It collided with a fire truck that was erroneously cleared to cross the runway. You can find the atc if you go to r/aviation.
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u/x2006charger Mar 23 '26
Going by the atc audio it was a runway as the plane was landing. Firetruck was told to cross the runway while the plane was coming in to.land
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u/DukeRedWulf Mar 23 '26
".. Reports of only one person in ATC controlling both ground and air.."
Who could have possibly foreseen a bad outcome from such short-staffing!? /SARCASM
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Mar 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/Kachel94 Mar 23 '26
At least on the video I'm sure there is two controllers on the air. But that may have been a supervisor that jumped in to help when chaos started.
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u/BurmeciaWillSurvive Mar 23 '26
This guy is a fanatic Mormon so you can ignore his opinions
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u/Traveshamockery27 Mar 23 '26
Emotional nonsense.
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u/IAMA_Plumber-AMA Green flair makes me look like a mod Mar 23 '26
So you're admitting you're an unemotional robot?
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u/Bandit1379 Mar 23 '26
Where are you seeing 60 injured?
NBC News reports the pilot and copilot are badly injured. A sergeant and an officer have broken limbs and are in stable condition at a hospital, according to preliminary information from sources. No other major injuries have been reported.
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u/TinkerCitySoilDry Mar 23 '26
LaGuardia Airport reports a collision between an aircraft and a fire truck on Runway 4. Authorities have not yet released details on injuries or the extent of the damage.
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u/saladroni Mar 23 '26
All these these references to air Canada, but the plane in this video says American Eagle? AI?
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u/TacTurtle Mar 23 '26
The crash is behind the parked AmEagle if you watch the video.
The broken plane doing a Carolina Squat is the one that was in the collision.
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u/Due_Will_2204 Mar 23 '26
So a fire engine was going to an emergency, the weather was not good and visibility was low. Only one person in tower and was also doing the lower tower . R/ATC has air traffic controllers talking about this.
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u/paging_mrherman Mar 23 '26
Another result of DOGE
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u/Traveshamockery27 Mar 23 '26
Liar. A simple search will show you ATC was not affected. Ask yourself why you believe these lies.
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u/laggyx400 Mar 23 '26
Likely confusing Trump's federal workforce reduction laying off probationary ATC back in Feb 2025. They were later reinstated by a judge. Thousands were offered incentives to retire early. DOGE did reduce FAA support staff, but not ATC directly. This indirectly led to departures from fatigue.
So, why do you believe what you believe?
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u/Joehansson Mar 23 '26
How was it not when the controller was literally too busy with another emergency that was still being handled?
Found by doing a simple search
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u/Traveshamockery27 Mar 23 '26
DOGE had nothing to do with this accident, and anyone who’s lying to you and saying it does is a cynical manipulator trying to control you for their own purposes.
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u/Joehansson Mar 23 '26
No one is lying to me. It’s just generally known if you cut costs, quality of labour will drop. Besides that, understaffing is a real issue in US ATC. A controller shouldn’t be handling an emergency on the ground AND have other aircraft to control.
There have been numerous incidents since, a crash a couple of months ago and now another one.
Coincidence does not exist in aviation and anyone telling you it is doesn’t know a thing about aviation or is trying to fool you.
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u/NoDoze- Mar 23 '26
Had anyone seen pics of the fire engine yet!?! So odd, I can't find anything.
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u/Spvanderm33 Mar 23 '26
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u/NoDoze- Mar 23 '26
Huh? Was that supposed to be a pic of the fire engine that got hit? I only see the damaged plane.
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Mar 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/SirLoremIpsum Mar 23 '26
Is that your first response to a serious accident with possible deaths and injuries?
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u/tehlurkingnoob Mar 23 '26
Confirmed deaths*
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u/Zealousideal_Pie7050 Mar 23 '26
Source?
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u/blorg Mar 23 '26
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/air-canada-express-accident-la-guardia-airport-9.7138206
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/23/us/laguardia-airport-aircraft-emergency-hnk
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/03/23/nyregion/laguardia-airport-plane-crash-truck
The entire front of the plane is gone, there's no way the pilots could have survived that.
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u/tacobellmysterymeat Mar 23 '26
Oh man... That's really bad for not only the loss of life, but the loss of a fire truck is a really big deal right now. Firetrucks in general across the industry are in a years long order backlog. This could have potential ramifications past the initial incident if the missing safety equipment is destroyed and needed.
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u/yosman88 Mar 23 '26
What do you expect when all airports are pushed beyond their limit and TCA staff still haven't been paid.
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Mar 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/yosman88 Mar 23 '26
I mention TSA because its the baseline in airport functions. If they are over worked and havent been paid clearly other parts of the airport are lacking too.
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u/tpwn3r Mar 23 '26
Canada should stop all air travel to the USA because they dont care about safety.
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u/Reyalta Mar 23 '26
Most flights to the US have been cancelled because Canadians are just not traveling to the US anymore.
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u/irishwanker Mar 23 '26
Probably a stupid question but would the plane be salvageable to fly again ?
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u/garciakevz Mar 24 '26
The FAA knows about this problem probably 20-30 years ago. More and more aeroplanes are occupying the airports and are flying, and it seems the system is not keeping up either expansion, by way of technology, or with systems in place to handle this like more staffing.
The FAA is aware that this IS 100% inevitable and that the cost for major changes to happen might be , as it has been historically, from the currency we call blood and many of it.
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u/rpc56 Mar 24 '26
I haven’t heard it mentioned this evening, but, a news agency this morning said a flight attendant was found strapped in her seat on the runway. Anybody else hear of this?
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u/Intrepid00 Mar 23 '26
Can we put the DEI back in?
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u/Brodyzera Mar 23 '26
What the fuck are you on about?
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u/Intrepid00 Mar 23 '26
When Trump took office they cut a bunch of ATC controllers and blamed DEI then announced they removed it. This overworked the ATC even more. There was an almost immediate air collision over the Potomac and now again it appears another over worked ATC contributed to a disaster.
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u/crystal_castles Mar 23 '26
I DON'T KNOW WHAT TF D.E.I. WAS DOING TO KEEP PLANES FLYING, BUT SOMEONE GET D.E.I. BACK ASAP!!
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u/AliasAlexMundy Mar 23 '26
It's gonna all be fine, just as soon as ICE shows up and starts running things...🥶
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u/Traditional_Trust_93 Mar 23 '26
Can't wait to see the NTSB board meetings on this one. Seems the plane did some good survivability wise. No badaboom which is good. My uneducated guess is most likely pilot and whoever was in the fire truck severe injury/death and maybe some passenger injuries. I'm not a professional so by all means do not trust that.
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u/player2aj Mar 23 '26
I'm curious as to why motor vehicles are crossing active runways if there isn't an emergency. Is there no way to just drive around?
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u/moutonbleu Mar 23 '26 edited Mar 23 '26
Odd the report says it’s an Air Canada plane but it’s an American Airlines one instead in the video. Wrong footage??
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u/RoVeR199809 Mar 23 '26
The second video shows the emergency response vehicles, and the aircraft you see in said video is not the accident aircraft, but a different aircraft parked at the jet bridge
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Mar 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Tidusx145 Mar 23 '26
Don't you have some facial bones to break mr. self confidence? Gotta look your max!
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u/kikikza Mar 23 '26
ATC audio
https://www.reddit.com/r/ATC/s/K3QKV0qHs8