Mentour Pilot

LaGuardia Airport Crash | Pilots React Live

The video dissects the LaGuardia Airport ground collision that occurred on March 22, when a fire‑truck, cleared to cross runway 04, was struck by an Air Canada CRJ‑900 LR on final approach. The incident followed a United Airlines 737 MAX‑8 rejected take‑off on runway 13, which prompted cabin‑crew complaints of brake‑fumes and a request for an evacuation, leading controllers to dispatch a fire‑truck onto the active runway. Key data points include the fire‑truck’s clearance to use taxiway Delta, the aircraft’s touchdown speed of roughly 114 knots (210 km/h), and the resulting destruction of the CRJ’s forward fuselage. Two pilots were confirmed dead, 41 passengers injured, nine seriously. The hosts emphasize that the information is based on witness reports and ADS‑B data, not yet verified by the NTSB. Pilots and former airport firefighters discuss why the crew could not avoid the truck: landing is a high‑workload phase, visual cues at night are limited, and aircraft steering at such speeds is constrained by rudder authority and wing span. They contrast U.S. runway‑clearance rules—allowing multiple aircraft to be cleared for the same runway—with European practices that keep the runway exclusive to a single landing aircraft. The incident underscores the need for tighter ATC coordination, clearer runway‑crossing protocols, and possible procedural harmonization between U.S. and European standards. It also highlights the importance of rapid decision‑making by ground crews and the limits of go‑around options once reverse thrust is engaged, prompting industry reviews of emergency response and runway safety measures.