LaGuardia Plane Crash Pilots Tried to Save Passengers' Lives But Didn't Survive Fatal Collision

An Air Canada passenger plane collided with a Port Authority rescue vehicle at New York's LaGuardia Airport late Sunday, killing both pilots and injuring dozens of those on board.

Passenger accounts have emerged suggesting the flight crew attempted to mitigate the force of the impact in the moments before the collision. One passenger, who posted publicly on Reddit, credited the pilots with saving the lives of those on board.

'The Likely Saved Our Lives'

In the hours following the crash, a first-hand account was posted on the r/aviation subreddit. Reddit user bradysego12, who claimed to be a passenger on Flight AC8646, described the incident in his post.

The user shared photos from the scene in the hopes they would assist investigators. According to him, he was physically unharmed but 'horribly sick to my stomach for the lives lost' and asked others to pray for them.

In the comments, the user described what happened in the moments before impact and what the pilots did in response.

'We had just touched down and maybe about 30 seconds later we all felt a jolt forward, then a loud bang, and what felt like sliding sideways down the runway,' he wrote. 'I'm sorry if I'm not using proper terms here. But someone did say the pilot tried to reverse thrust at the last second. Honestly, they likely saved our lives. I wish I could tell their families how thankful I am. They are heroes.'

The pilot and co-pilot, who were not identified, did not survive. 'My heart goes out to the families of the two pilots, Canadian pilots. Certainly a very tragic outcome,' said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul at a news conference.

'Regular Flight' Turned Into 'Chaos'

Jack Cabot, another passenger on the flight, shared his account of the incident. According to him, 'It was a regular flight like always,' but it quickly turned into 'chaos.'

'As we were arriving, we came down really hard. We stopped really quickly, 2 seconds later, we had an absolute slam,' he told Fox News. 'Everybody was flying everywhere. The plane veering off left and right. It was chaos. It didn't feel like there was anybody controlling it.'

Audio from the scene, reported by a US outlet, captured an air traffic controller calling out 'Stop, stop, stop, stop!' in the moments before the collision, before saying 'I messed up.'

Impact of the LaGuardia Plane Crash

The collision at LaGuardia Airport involving Air Canada Flight AC8646 has left the aviation community in mourning. The Bombardier CRJ-900, operated by Jazz Aviation, was arriving from Montréal–Trudeau International Airport on Sunday night when it struck a Port Authority rescue vehicle, which had responded to an unrelated issue, a report of an 'odor' on a United flight.

While the identities of the victims have not yet been released, officials confirmed that both the pilot and co-pilot were killed in the impact. Among the 72 passengers and four crew members on board, many sustained injuries during the encounter. Forty-one people were hospitalised, including two police officers.

Following the impact, the aircraft sustained severe damage; the nose and cockpit sections were crushed, with a shredded tangle of wires and flight controls exposed. Photographs from the scene show the white jet tilted upwards, resting on its tail with its mangled nose pointed toward the sky. Emergency stairways were pushed against the exits to evacuate survivors, while the neon yellow fire truck involved in the crash remained nearby, overturned on its side.

Investigators are now focusing on communication logs between the control tower and the ground fire crews.