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LaGuardia Crash Timeline: Moments Before Air Canada Plane Collided With Fire Truck

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LaGuardia Crash Timeline: Moments Before Air Canada Plane Collided With Fire Truck

Dakota Santiago for The New York Times

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On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board provided new details of the final minutes before an Air Canada jet collided with a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

The timeline from federal investigators and air traffic audio reviewed by The New York Times both suggest that the controllers may have been distracted before the crash, which killed the plane’s two pilots and left dozens injured late Sunday.

Here are critical moments leading up to the deadliest collision at the airport in more than three decades:

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Several minutes before crash

A United Airlines flight requests assistance

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Aerial image by Nearmap The New York Times

Air traffic controllers were responding to an emergency with United Airlines Flight 2384 several minutes before the crash, posing a possible distraction to air traffic controllers.

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After being on the tarmac for over two hours, the United flight, bound for Chicago, had aborted its first takeoff attempt at 10:40 p.m. Passengers were told the plane had “a transient issue,” according to a passenger who requested anonymity in order to protect her privacy.

The pilots made a second attempt at takeoff about 40 minutes later and aborted again.

At 11:31 p.m., United flight had declared an emergency and requested a gate assignment, according to air traffic control audio reviewed by The Times. An odor on the plane had sickened members of the flight crew.

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Four minutes later, the plane was assigned a gate and told to wait for emergency responders.

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1-3 minutes before crash

Air Canada flight cleared to land

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Aerial image by Nearmap The New York Times

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Air Canada Express Flight 8486 was set to land at LaGuardia Airport when the approach controller, who manages flights as they near the airport, ordered the airplane to contact the control tower, National Transportation Safety Board officials said on Tuesday.

The flight crew began lowering the landing gear. The plane was cleared to land on Runway 4 and advised that it was No. 2 for landing, said Doug Brazy, a senior aviation accident investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board.

One minute and 26 seconds before the crash, an electronic callout indicated that the plane was 1,000 feet from the ground.

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A passenger told The Times that a flight attendant warned the passengers to leave any luggage behind if the plane made an emergency landing. It’s unclear why this warning was made.

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20-28 seconds before crash

Fire truck cleared to cross runway

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Aerial image by Nearmap The New York Times

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Around 11:37 p.m., or 25 seconds before the crash, “Truck 1” made a request to cross Runway 4 at Taxiway D, the same runway that the Air Canada jet was set to land on. The request was made to respond to the emergency with the United Airlines plane.

Five seconds later, the truck, which later crashed with the jet, was cleared to enter the runway, officials said. An air traffic controller quickly responded: “Truck 1 and company, cross 4 at Delta.”

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12-17 seconds before crash

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Fire truck approaches runway as Air Canada jet is landing

The officers aboard “Truck 1” read back the runway clearance. That’s a mandatory practice to ensure that the message was received correctly, and to verify that both the air traffic controllers and the recipient of the information understood the instructions.

Five seconds later, the plane was 30 feet above the ground, and the tower instructed a Frontier Airlines aircraft to hold its position.

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Air Canada flight and fire truck collide

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Aerial image by Nearmap The New York Times

LaGuardia Airport has a “Runway Status Lights” system that includes red runway entrance lights at taxiway and runway crossings. The lights, which are set in the pavement, activate automatically when high-speed traffic is on the runway or approaching it.

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While there is speculation about whether the fire truck ran a red runway status light, a Times analysis of the crash footage suggests the lights on Runway 4 appeared to be functioning properly when the fire truck entered the runway.

By design, the lights can go dark a couple of seconds before a landing or taking-off plane passes the intersection. The truck may have entered the runway in that brief window. What remains unknown is whether the crew members heard the controller’s instruction to stop, and, if so, why they proceeded regardless. The lights do not replace clearances given by the air traffic controllers.

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Video: @305topgun, via X The New York Times

Nine seconds before the collision, an air traffic controller instructed “Truck 1” to stop. There were other vehicles behind the fire truck that did not proceed to the runway.

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“Stop, stop, stop, stop, Truck 1, stop, stop, stop,” the controller said. Sounds consistent with the plane’s landing gear slamming against the pavement could be heard in the audio from the cockpit voice recorder.

Four seconds before the regional jet plowed into the fire truck, the controller again said, “Stop, Truck 1, stop!”

Investigators have not determined whether the operators of the fire truck heard orders to stop before colliding with the Air Canada flight.

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Iran-linked hackers have breached FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal emails | CNN Politics

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Iran-linked hackers have breached FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal emails | CNN Politics

Hackers connected to the Iranian government accessed FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal email and posted materials — including photos and documents — taken from his account, a person familiar with the breach confirmed to CNN.

The hackers have published a series of photos of Patel from before he became FBI director that they claim were stolen from his personal email account. A source familiar with the incident confirmed the images’ authenticity.

The stolen emails appear to date from around 2011 to 2022 and appear to include personal, business and travel correspondence that Patel had with various contacts, according to a preliminary CNN review of the files with the help of an independent cybersecurity researcher.

What the hacking group is calling a breach of “impenetrable” FBI systems is in reality something much more mundane — a breach of things like family photos and details on Patel’s previous search for an apartment, said the researcher, Ron Fabela.

“This isn’t an FBI compromise — it’s someone’s personal junk drawer,” he said.

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Reuters first reported the breach of Patel’s email on Friday.

The FBI has confirmed the breach and said no government information was obtained. The FBI is offering a $10 million reward for information that leads to the identification for the “Handala Hack Team,” a group the FBI says has frequently targeted US governement officials.

“The FBI is aware of malicious actors targeting Director Patel’s personal email information, and we have taken all necessary steps to mitigate potential risks associated with this activity,” a statement from the FBI said in part. “Consistent with President Trump’s Cyber Strategy for America, the FBI will continue to pursue the actors responsible, support victims, and share actionable intelligence in defense of networks.”

US intelligence officials have repeatedly warned about the possibility of Tehran-linked hackers retaliating for the US and Israeli bombing of Iran that began last month. It is also not the first time Iranian-backed hackers have accessed Patel’s private information.

In late 2024, Patel, just weeks away from being appointed to lead the FBI, was informed by officials that he had been targeted as part of an Iranian hack and some of his personal communications had been accessed.

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The 2024 hack was part of a broader effort by foreign hackers — from China and Iran — to access accounts for incoming Trump officials including now Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, former interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Lindsey Halligan and Donald Trump Jr.

The Iran-linked hacking group that claimed responsibility for accessing Patel’s emails in this most recent breach was also behind a cyberattack earlier this month that disrupted business operations at a major US medical device maker.

The hackers said then that they were retaliating for a missile strike on an elementary school in Iran, which Iranian state media has claimed killed at least 168 children. The Pentagon has said it is investigating that incident.

The Justice Department has accused the hackers of working for Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security. The department responded to the hack of the medical device company by seizing websites used by the Iran-linked hackers to disrupt their operations. But the Iranian cyber operatives have continued to claim victims and spread propaganda.

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Video: Will ICE Change Under Its New Leader?

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Video: Will ICE Change Under Its New Leader?
Markwayne Mullin, the new homeland security secretary, has promised a different approach, but how much change is likely? Our reporter Hamed Aleaziz describes what we know.

By Hamed Aleaziz, Sutton Raphael, Thomas Vollkommer, Gilad Thaler, Whitney Shefte and Alexandra Ostasiewicz

March 27, 2026

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