Connect with us

News

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

Published

on

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

Dakota Santiago for The New York Times

Advertisement

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:

Advertisement

Advertisement

Several minutes before crash

A United Airlines flight requests assistance

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

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

Advertisement

1-3 minutes before crash

Air Canada flight cleared to land

Advertisement

Aerial image by Nearmap The New York Times

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

20-28 seconds before crash

Fire truck cleared to cross runway

Advertisement

Aerial image by Nearmap The New York Times

Advertisement

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.”

Advertisement

12-17 seconds before crash

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Air Canada flight and fire truck collide

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

“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.

Advertisement

News

Pride celebrations struggle as corporate sponsorships dry up

Published

on

Pride celebrations struggle as corporate sponsorships dry up

Lyndsey Sickler, one of Pittsburgh Pride organizers.

Hannah Frances Johansson


hide caption

toggle caption

Advertisement

Hannah Frances Johansson

PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Pride celebrations across the country continue to lose out on large sponsorships as corporations, a key source of funding, shrink their affiliation with diversity causes and LGBTQ+ events.

Corporate sponsorships of celebrations in several cities, including New York City, Salt Lake City, Louisville, St. Louis, Orlando, and Pittsburgh are down from previous years, organizers said.

Jordan Braxton, co-president of the United States Association of Prides, which supports Pride celebrations nationwide, said that while some smaller Prides have seen a growth in sponsorships, a majority have seen a reduction.

Advertisement

She said the Trump administration’s dismantling of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives, has scared corporations away from sponsoring Pride celebrations. “I think that’s why some of the corporations have pulled back, because they don’t want that government scrutiny,” she said.

In his first days in office in 2025, Trump issued presidential actions targeting DEI within the federal government and encouraging the private sector to end what the administration considers “illegal DEI discrimination and preferences.”

In Pittsburgh, Pride organizers are trying to make up for lost sponsorships in time for their festival and parade in early June.

“It takes a lot of money to do this,” said Dena Stanley, director of Pittsburgh Pride. “Permittings costs, security costs, headliners costs, staging costs, cleaning crew costs, insurance costs, all of these are expenses.”

Pittsburgh Pride organizers think it will secure 30-40% of the sponsorship dollars they were able to fundraise a few years ago.

Advertisement

To narrow the gap, the group said they received a state grant and solicited individual donations.

Dena Stanley, director of Pittsburgh Pride.

Dena Stanley, director of Pittsburgh Pride.

Hannah Frances Johansson.


hide caption

toggle caption

Advertisement

Hannah Frances Johansson.

E Ciszek, who researches advertising and public relations at The University of Texas at Austin, said the downturn in corporate sponsorships is happening amid a movement against Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and the “attack on trans rights, in particular.”

“I think this is not just a matter of budget cuts, right?” Ciszek said. “It’s important to take a step back and see this more as a moment of risk, a moment of political pressure, and looking really at the limits of corporate allyship, particularly when LGBTQ visibility has become really politically costly.”

Corporations, she said, are calculating the risk of public support for Pride, which could expose them to litigation, political retaliation or consumer boycotts.

Advertisement

“What once was [an] organizational asset, has now become an organizational risk,” Ciszek said.

Lyndsey Sickler, another Pittsburgh Pride organizer, described Pride celebrations as empowering for LGBTQ+ people who live in communities where they feel scrutinized for their identity.

For some people, it’s their first time being in, “a space that is actively, loudly celebrating everything that is us,” Sickler said. “Nothing else matters at that point.”

Less sponsorship money can also impact year-round events and resources for the LGBTQ+ community.

“People sometimes look at Pride festivals just as a big party, which they are, but they’re also resource fairs, job fairs, and we also use it as a fundraising event,” said Braxton of the United States Association of Prides.

Advertisement

In Florida, Tampa Pride announced a one-year hiatus after a slew of corporations dropped their sponsorships, said Carrie West, who ran the organization.

“All of a sudden, bingo. Here you have no money, no grant money, no supporting money, to make operations, to plan, to get any kind of anything,” he said. “Oh my gosh, it was, it’s devastating.”

Continue Reading

News

Video: Judge Orders Removal of Trump’s Name From Kennedy Center

Published

on

Video: Judge Orders Removal of Trump’s Name From Kennedy Center

new video loaded: Judge Orders Removal of Trump’s Name From Kennedy Center

A federal judge in Washington on Friday ordered that President Trump’s name be removed from the facade of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

By Jackeline Luna

May 29, 2026

Continue Reading

News

Trump’s doctor recommends he lose weight and exercise more but says he is in ‘excellent health’ | CNN Politics

Published

on

Trump’s doctor recommends he lose weight and exercise more but says he is in ‘excellent health’ | CNN Politics

The White House released the results of President Donald Trump’s May physical late Friday evening, sharing a memo from his physician recommending he lose weight and exercise more while noting he is in excellent health.

“President Trump remains in excellent health, demonstrating strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and overall physical function,” White House physician Dr. Sean Barbabella wrote in a letter. “Cognitive and physical performance are excellent. He is fully fit to carry out all duties of the Commander-in-Chief and Head of State.”

Barbabella wrote, “Preventive counseling was provided,” during the exam, “including guidance on diet, recommendation to take a low-dose aspirin, increased physical activity, and continued weight loss.”

Advertisement

The doctor noted the president stands 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 238 pounds.

At his physical exam last April, Trump weighed 224 pounds.

His visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Tuesday marked the third time he’s visited the facility for a medical exam since becoming the oldest president ever inaugurated last year.

Prior to the visit, the White House said the check-up would include “routine annual dental and medical assessments,” despite him having already visited a dentist in Florida twice this year.

Immediately following the visit, Trump offered scant details on Truth Social, writing “Everything checked out PERFECTLY.”

Advertisement

Since returning to the White House in 2025, visible ailments and speculation over his health have prompted the White House to divulge new details of the president’s physical condition.

The White House said swelling in his legs and ankles that was revealed last summer​ was a result of chronic venous insufficiency, a condition in which valves inside certain veins don’t work the way they should, which can allow blood to pool or collect in the veins. Trump attempted wearing compression socks, but found them uncomfortable.

In Friday’s letter, the president’s doctor wrote that, during Tuesday’s physical, “Slight lower leg swelling was noted, with improvement from last year.”

The president has also developed noticeable bruising on his hands during his second term, which the White House has chalked up to frequent handshakes and attempted to cover up with concealer in photographs.

According to the doctor’s readout, Trump also submitted to a “comprehensive neurological exam,” which showed “normal mental status, intact cranial nerves, normal motor strength, sensation, reflexes, gait, and balance.”

Advertisement

As for Trump’s heart health, the doctor said, “Al-enhanced electrocardiogram (ECG) analysis estimated his cardiac age…to be approximately 14 years younger than his chronological age.”

Barbabella’s letter noted that Trump currently takes aspirin but didn’t give a dosage. When it’s used for preventive purposes, doctors generally advise taking 81 milligrams of aspirin per day, but Trump told the Wall Street Journal in January that he takes 325 milligrams, a dose that can raise the risk of bleeding.

“They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,” Trump told the WSJ. “I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart. … They’d rather have me take the smaller one. I take the larger one, but I’ve done it for years, and what it does do is, it causes bruising.”

Trump again took the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, a 10-minute screening test used to detect mild cognitive impairment and early dementia. The doctor said the president scored 30 out of 30.

This story has been updated with additional details.

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending