Two pilots were killed when an Air Canada Express jet collided with a fire truck during landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on March 23, 2026. Nine others were hospitalized as the CRJ-900 aircraft, carrying 72 passengers and four crew, came to rest with its cockpit crushed. Over 570 flights were canceled-more than half of the airport’s daily total.
In response to nationwide travel disruptions, President Donald Trump deployed armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to 14 major airports, including JFK, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson, and Chicago O’Hare. Agents, clad in flak jackets and carrying pistols, were positioned for crowd control-but Trump suggested they could also make immigration arrests.
The move follows weeks of severe TSA staffing shortages, with absenteeism reaching 42% at Atlanta’s airport. Travelers endured multi-hour security lines as agents remain unpaid after a congressional budget deadlock. Meanwhile, rising fuel costs-sparked by U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran-are forcing airlines like United to cut summer flights.
A separate incident at Newark Liberty Airport triggered a 35-minute ground stop after air traffic controllers evacuated their tower due to a burning smell. The FAA has not determined the cause of the LaGuardia crash, though air traffic recordings show a controller urgently halting the fire truck moments before impact.