The National Transportation Safety Board is probing the crash after the plane collided with a fire truck on Runway 4 of the Queens airport Sunday night.
Audio from the crash captured the moment an air traffic controller tried to stop a truck from moving as the Air Canada flight approached. The truck was cleared to cross the runway before air traffic controllers urged a Frontier plane bound for Miami and the vehicle to stop.
Runway 4 is expected to remain closed for days as workers clear the “tremendous” amount of debris from the wreck.
The owner of a Toronto coffee shop that was a favorite of Air Canada pilot Mackenzie Gunther told The Post on Tuesday he tried texting his loyal customer after hearing of the LaGuardia Airport plane crash.
“When I didn’t hear back after a day, I thought it isn’t a good sign,’’ said Daniel Biro, owner and roaster of Rapid Ends Coffee in Peterborough, Ontario.
Gunther was killed in Sunday’s crash, as was co-pilot Antoine Forest.
“MacKenzie was an amazing young man. He just graduated a couple years ago. He was a regular here every week while he was in school,” Biro said -- adding that the pilot had been recently married.
“He had his whole life for him. It’s super tragic.”
A flyer who survived the deadly 1992 plane crash at LaGuardia Airport told The Post he was reminded how lucky he was to see his kids grow up when fresh tragedy struck the travel hub Sunday.
Ohio resident Bart Simon was one of just 24 souls to survive the March 22, 1992, crash at LaGuardia exactly 34 years before another plane slammed into a fire truck there late Sunday night, killing the two pilots and injuring scores of people.
He told The Post on Tuesday that the link between the two deadly crashes was “incredibly ironic and bizarre” — not only did the two crashes take place on the same date, but he correctly pointed out they both occurred on the same day of the week.
Alarming new details about the deadly LaGuardia Airport plane crash surfaced Tuesday revealing confusion in air tower also extended to the ground.
The fire truck involved in the crash was not equipped with a key device to track its movements around the runway, and it’s unclear if the driver could even hear the air tower’s desperate pleas to stop before the tragedy, NTSB officials said.
National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said the agency still doesn’t even know which air-traffic controller was in charge of ground activity at the New York City airport at the time.
“It is not clear who was conducting the duties of the ground controller,” Homendy told reporters two days after the Air Canada jet plowed into the Port Authority Police Aircraft Rescue Fire Truck late Sunday, killing both of the plane’s pilots and injuring dozens of people.
NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said the agency doesn't know which air-traffic controller was in charge of ground activity at LaGuardia during the fatal crash. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post
“We have conflicting information. We have some information it was the controller-in-charge. We have some information it was the local controller.’’
She also noted that the fire truck did not have a transponder — a crucial piece of equipment that would give air-traffic controllers a clear picture where it was on LaGuardia’s runways.
“Should they have transponders? Yeah, they should,’’ she said of the vehicles.
“Air-traffic controllers should know what’s in, you know, before them. Whether it’s on airport surface or in the airspace. They should have that information to ensure safety.
Investigators examining the wreckage of the Air Canada plane at LaGuardia Airport on March 24, 2026. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post
“We have no indication that there were transponders on any of the trucks. But there are transponders on other trucks at other airports across the nation.
“But in this case, they did not have transponders.”
She added that the agency also isn’t sure if the two cops on the fire truck heard the air tower’s desperate instructions to stop before driving onto the runway.
She said investigators still need to interview the pair, who survived.
One was released from the hospital Monday, while the other still hospitalized.
A flier on the Air Canada jet involved in LaGuardia Airport’s deadly crash told The Post on Tuesday he witnessed passengers’ humanity rise to the occasion even at their darkest hour.
Survivor Jack Cabot, 22, recalled seeing “blood everywhere” after the crash, including on the injured passenger next to him who injured their face and had blood gushing from their nose.
“Some people really stepped up in that moment, they organized themselves as a group,” he said of the hoards who rushed to help those around them.
“People were sharing coats. One person used a COVID mask to wipe blood off another person’s face.’’
NTSB top official Jennifer Homendy said the agency isn’t sure if the two cops on the fire truck hit by a plane at LaGuardia Airport on Sunday heard the air tower's desperate instructions to stop before driving onto the runway.
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said the agency is not sure if the cops on the fire truck that hit a plane at LaGuardia Airplane were given instructions to stop driving on the runway before the fatal crash. AP
She said investigators still need to interview the pair, who survived. One was released from the hospital Monday, while the other was set to be sent home sometime Tuesday.
The fire truck that the doomed LaGuardia plane barreled into did not have a transponder that would have helped track the vehicle around the runway, the head of the NTSB said Tuesday.
“That truck did not have a transponder. And it would have been helpful when you have a radar target, it does not provide you with the information you need like it would for an aircraft, as a controller,” agency Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said.
Investigators examining the fire truck struck by the Air Canada plane at LaGuardia on March 24, 2026. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post
Asked if such airport trucks should have responders, Homendy repolied, "I can tell you, yeah, they should.
"Air-traffic controllers should know what’s before them.”
The air-traffic controller involved in LaGuardia's plane crash remained on duty for several minutes afterward, which is not normal, NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said Tuesday.
“We know that that controller was still on duty for several minutes after. Normally they would have been relieved,” she said.
“We have questions about that.”
NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy confirmed that the air-traffic controller involved in the LaGuardia crash remained on duty for several minutes after the deadly collision. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post
NTSB chief Jennifer Homendy said Tuesday it is still unclear who was in charge of ground activity at LaGuardia Airport before a deadly plane crash involving a fire truck there.
“It is not clear who was conducting the duties of the ground controller," she said at a press briefing.
"We have conflicting information. We have some information it was the controller in charge. We have some information it was the local controller.’’
NTSB chief Jennifer Homendy speaking at a press conference at LaGuardia's Terminal B on March 24, 2026. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post
Survivor Jack Cabot, 22, recalled seeing "blood everywhere" after the crash, including on the injured passenger next to him who injured their face and had blood gushing from their nose.
"Some people really stepped up in that moment, they organized themselves as a group," he said of the hoards who rushed to help those around them.
"People were sharing coats. One person used a COVID mask to wipe blood off another person's face.''
The LaGuardia Airport plane that crashed Sunday was traveling on the runway as fast as 103 mph when it slammed into a fire truck, FlightRadar24 told The Post on Tuesday.
A rep for the real-time flight tracking service said that although it couldn't pinpoint a precise speed because of the nature of tracking technology for planes on the ground, it estimated "the impact occurred when the aircraft was traveling at about 90 knots" -- or around 103.5 mph.
The plane's pilot and co-pilot were killed in the crash, and dozens of passengers were injured.
The Port Authority fire truck had been en route to an emergency call nearby when the crash occurred.
It was the first fatal incident at the major travel hub in Queens in more than three decades. USAir Flight 405 crashed into Flushing Bay after taking off from the airport March 22, 1992 -- exactly 34 years to the day of Sunday's catastrophe.
The Air Canada flight attendant ejected from the plane and tossed more than 300 feet in Sunday's deadly crash at La Guardia posted an eerie social-media premonition almost three years to the day before the horrifying accident.
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, I will get up after I fall. Whether I run, walk, or crawl, I will set my goals and achieve them all," Solange Tremblay wrote on Facebook on March 15, 2023.
Solange Tremblay/ Facebook
Rescuers found Tremblay still strapped to the ill-fated plane's jump seat after the jet collided with a fire truck on the airport's Runway 4.
She suffered multiple injuries, including a broken leg, her daughter Sarah Lépine, told Quebec outlet TVA Nouvellas.
“They found her, and she was still strapped into her seat. She had a guardian angel watching over her. It could have been much worse," Lépine said.
Both Air Canada pilots were killed in the collision, and dozens of passengers, crew members and two police officers were injured.
