NEW YORK — The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has released flight data and radio transmissions of the final three minutes of the fatal Air Canada flight at New York’s LaGuardia Airport Sunday night. The information indicates that a fire truck had been cleared to cross a runway at the busy New York airport only 20 seconds before it collided with the jet.
The crash killed the two pilots and sent more than 40 to hospital. The safety board said it will convene a group on Wednesday to review the cockpit voice recorder and produce a written transcript.
Also of note, officials said the runway warning system, known as the ASDE-X — Airport Surface Detection Equipment — had failed to generate an alert. That system allows air traffic controllers to track surface movement of aircraft and vehicles, but it didn’t work as intended because the fire truck — described as Truck 1 in the radio transmission data — did not have a transponder.
Below is a summary of the events captured by the cockpit recording, as related by the safety board. They said the information is subject to change. The timecodes reflect the minutes before the fatal collision.
3:07 — Controller instructed aircraft to contact the LaGuardia control tower.
2:45 — Flight crew lowered the landing gear.
2:22 — Flight crew checked in with the LaGuardia tower.
2:17 — Tower cleared the airplane to land on runway four and said the aircraft was second in line for landing.
1:52 — Flight crew set wing flaps to 30 degrees.
1:33 — Flight crew set flaps to 45 degrees.
1:26 — An electronic “1,000 feet” call-out occurred, meaning the plane was 1,000 feet from the ground, according to the ground proximity warning system.
1:12 — Crew confirmed the landing checklist was complete.
1:03 — An unidentified airport vehicle issued a radio transmission to the tower that was “stepped on,” according to the safety board, meaning it was interrupted by another radio transmission issued at the same time.
54 seconds: Flight crew acknowledged they were at 500 feet from the ground and on a stable approach.
40 seconds: Tower at LaGuardia asked which vehicle needed to cross a runway.
28 seconds: Truck 1 issued a radio transmission to the tower.
26 seconds: Tower acknowledged the transmission from Truck 1.
25 seconds: Truck 1 requested to cross runway four at taxiway delta. It was among the vehicles responding to United Airlines flight 2384, which had twice aborted takeoffs and had reported fumes or a smell in the cabin.
20 seconds: Tower cleared Truck 1 and accompanying vehicles to cross the runway.
19 seconds: An electronic 100 enhanced ground proximity warning system call-out occurred.
17 seconds: Truck 1 read back the runway crossing clearance.
14 seconds: The plane was 50 feet from the ground, according to the proximity warning system call-out.
12 seconds: As the plane was at 30 feet, the tower instructed a Frontier Airlines flight to hold its position.
11 seconds: An electronic 20 call-out occurred.
10 seconds: An electronic 10 call-out occurred.
9 seconds: Tower instructed Truck 1 to stop.
8 seconds: A sound consistent with the airplane’s landing gear touched down.
6 seconds: Transfer of control from one pilot to the other. Safety board officials said the first officer flying the Air Canada jet had transferred control to the captain.
4 seconds: Tower once again instructed Truck 1 to stop.
0 seconds: The recording ends.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2026.
The Canadian Press
