LaGuardia Airport runway where plane collided with fire truck, killing 2, reopens
NEW YORK (AP) — The runway where a plane collided with a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, killing the two pilots and injuring several others, reopened Thursday morning.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the tarmac resumed operations at around 10 a.m. after the runway and its associated infrastructure were “repaired, inspected, and confirmed” to meet Federal Aviation Administration regulations for safe operation.
The agency, which oversees the region’s airports, said reopening the second of two runways at LaGuardia, one of the busiest airports in the nation, will help “restore full operational capacity,” though it advised travelers to still check with their airline for flight status.
LaGuardia continues to register the most delays and cancellations among airports in the country with more than 300 canceled in the last 24 hours, according to Flight Aware, a flight tracking website.
The bodies of the two Air Canada pilots, meanwhile, are being repatriated to Canada.
The Air Line Pilots Association said the body of first officer Mackenzie Gunther was scheduled to arrive Thursday at the Ottawa International Airport. Capt. Antoine Forest’s body is set to arrive at Montréal Trudeau International Airport.
The association said the deaths of the two young aviators have shaken up the industry. Forest’s death has sparked an outpouring of sympathy in his hometown of Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec, southwest of Montreal. Gunther, 30, and Forest, 24, died when their Air Canada plane collided with a firetruck after landing at the airport.
The destroyed Air Canada plane and the fire truck were towed from the crash site late Wednesday as the National Transportation Safety Board continues its investigation.
The agency said Thursday that the truck has been placed in an undisclosed, secure location and deferred to questions about the status of the plane to Air Canada, which didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The airline has said the plane would be placed in a hangar and that it would soon begin the process of reuniting passengers with their baggage and personal belongings.
Michael Rousseau, the company’s CEO, also apologized Thursday for his inability to express himself in French after facing calls to resign over his English-only message of condolence.
The crash happened late Sunday night as an Air Canada regional jet arriving from Montreal and carrying 76 people struck an airport fire truck that had initially been cleared to cross the runway to respond to a separate incident aboard another plane.
Roughly 40 people were treated at hospitals for injuries, including the two firefighters and a flight attendant who survived after being thrown onto the tarmac while still strapped in her seat. Most have since been released from the hospital.
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Gillies reported from Toronto.