LaGuardia Airport live updates: Video shows horrifying moment of deadly crash

Sunday’s late-night crash at LaGuardia comes at a time of considerable strain on the U.S. air travel system.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the airport-focused Transportation Security Administration, has gone without funding for weeks amid an ongoing partial government shutdown.

Two people who were in a fire truck that collided with an incoming Air Canada jet at LaGuardia on Sunday have been identified.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees New York City-area airports, named the individuals as Sgt. Michael Orsillo and Officer Adrian Baez.

“Both were taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital,” Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia said during a press conference on Monday. “We expect one to be released later this afternoon, and the other to be kept overnight for observation.”

“I wish I could tell their families how thankful I am. They are heroes.”

That’s how one survivor of last night’s runway crash at LaGuardia is processing the collision, which killed both pilots and injured scores of passengers.

Shweta Sharma, Paul Farrell, and Jasmine Fernández have the latest details on the incident.

Much-needed modernizations for air traffic control systems can’t happen without more money from Congress, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said during a Monday news briefing.

“We’ve been modernizing our system, but we can’t fully modernize it until Congress gives us the additional money,” he said.

“It’s not a partisan issue, both Democrats and Republicans agree, but they have to have the will to finish the funding,” he continued.

Duffy added: “I’m not saying the crash would have been prevented if we had all the equipment deployed, but it’s important if we care about air travel safety, we care about having a brand new air traffic control system, the best in the world, with the best equipment virtually all of it developed here in America.”

Runway 4 at LaGuardia Airport will be closed until 7 a.m. Friday, following the deadly collision between an Air Canada plane and a fire truck, the FAA said.

LaGuardia was closed through much of Monday, but reopened a single runway around 2 p.m.

One of the two pilots killed in the crash at LaGuardia Airport has been identified as Antoine Forest.

Forest’s family confirmed his death to the Toronto Star on Monday.

The pilot was originally from Coteau-du-Lac, a small city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. He first started flying planes when he was just 16, his great aunt, Jeannette Gagnier, told the Star.

Forest, a first officer at Air Canada Express, had been co-piloting the plane that crashed on Sunday. He and his co-pilot, who has not been publicly identified, were declared dead while several passengers were injured.

“It’s a very bad day for me,” Gagnier, who acted as a grandmother to Forest, told the newspaper.

Forest’s LinkedIn page lists him as a first officer for Jazz Aviation since December 2022.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that LaGuardia Airport “is a very well-staffed airport.”

Duffy said they have 37 air traffic controller positions, 33 of which are currently staffed. Seven more controllers are going through training, he said.

The collision involving an Air Canada plane and a Port Authority fire truck was the first incident resulting in death at LaGuardia Airport in over 30 years, officials said during a Monday press briefing.

Kathryn Garcia, the head of the Port Authority, which operates all major New York area airports, said it’s been 34 years since there has been an incident resulting in death at the airport.

“This could have been an even broader tragedy if everyone had not responded as quickly as effectively as they did,” Garcia said.