A routine landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport turned deadly in just three minutes when Air Canada Express Flight 8646, a Jazz Aviation-operated CRJ-900 arriving from Montreal, collided with a Port Authority fire truck on Runway 4 shortly before midnight on Sunday, March 22, 2026. The impact killed both the captain and first officer and injured more than 40 others on board.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) senior aviation accident investigator Doug Brazy provided a harrowing second-by-second timeline on Tuesday, drawn from the aircraft’s cockpit voice recorder (CVR), illustrating how a normal approach rapidly descended into catastrophe.

The timeline, counted in seconds before the end of the CVR recording, unfolded as follows:

3 minutes 7 seconds before impact: The approach controller instructed the crew to contact LaGuardia Tower.
2 minutes 45 seconds: The flight crew lowered the landing gear.
2 minutes 22 seconds: The crew checked in with LaGuardia air traffic control.
2 minutes 27 seconds (noted in sequence): LaGuardia Tower cleared the aircraft to land on Runway 4, advising it was second in line.
1 minute 52 seconds: The crew set the flaps to 30 degrees.
1 minute 33 seconds: The flaps were extended to 45 degrees.
1 minute 26 seconds: The enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) issued a “1,000” callout, indicating the aircraft was 1,000 feet above the ground.
1 minute 12 seconds: The crew confirmed completion of the landing checklist.
1 minute 3 seconds: An airport vehicle transmitted to the tower, but the message was “stepped on” (blocked) by another unidentified radio transmission.
54 seconds: The crew acknowledged they were at 500 feet on a stable approach.
40 seconds: The tower asked which vehicle needed to cross a runway.
28 seconds: “Truck 1” transmitted to the tower.
26 seconds: The tower acknowledged the transmission.
25 seconds: Truck 1 requested clearance to cross Runway 4.
20 seconds: The tower cleared Truck 1 and its company to cross Runway 4.
19 seconds: The EGPWS issued a “100” callout (100 feet above ground).
17 seconds: Truck 1 read back the runway-crossing clearance.
14 seconds: “50” callout.
12 seconds: “30” callout. At the same moment, the tower instructed a Frontier Airlines flight to hold position.
11 seconds: “20” callout.
10 seconds: “10” callout.
9 seconds: The tower urgently instructed Truck 1 to stop.
8 seconds: Sounds consistent with the landing gear touching down on the runway were recorded.
6 seconds: The pilot transferred control to the other pilot.
4 seconds: The tower again ordered Truck 1 to stop.
0 seconds: The recording ended.

According to FlightRadar24 data cited by media outlets, the jet was traveling approximately 105 mph at the moment of impact, as captured in dramatic video footage of the collision.

The NTSB’s preliminary findings revealed multiple systemic and procedural vulnerabilities that night. The fire truck involved in the crash lacked a critical transponder or surface-movement tracking device that would have allowed air traffic controllers to monitor its exact position on the runway in real time. NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy emphasized that such equipment should be standard: “Should they have transponders? Yeah, they should.”

Compounding the issue, it remains unclear whether the truck driver could even hear the tower’s desperate last-second commands to stop. Investigators also uncovered confusion in the control tower itself. Homendy noted conflicting accounts about who was responsible for ground control duties at the time.

“We have conflicting information,” she said. “We have some information it was the controller-in-charge. We have some information it was the local controller.” With reportedly only two controllers on duty handling both local and ground responsibilities, communication breakdowns appear to have played a central role.

The fire truck had been cleared to cross the runway while responding to a separate aircraft reporting an odor on board. A blocked radio transmission from another airport vehicle roughly a minute before the crash further muddied the situational awareness in the tower.

These early revelations paint a picture of a perfect storm: a landing aircraft on final approach, an emergency vehicle authorized to cross the active runway with seconds to spare, missing technological safeguards, and uncertainty over staffing and radio discipline in the tower. The NTSB continues to analyze flight data recorder information, interview witnesses, and review tower communications as the investigation proceeds. The agency has stressed that all findings remain preliminary.

The tragedy has prompted immediate questions about runway safety protocols, ground vehicle tracking technology, and air traffic control workload at one of America’s busiest airports. Families of the deceased pilots, injured passengers, and the broader aviation community now await fuller answers as investigators work to prevent a similar sequence of events from ever recurring.