Firefighter Heard ‘Stop, Stop’ Before LaGuardia Crash but Didn’t Know It Was Meant for Him, Probe Finds

An Air Canada Express plane that collided with a fire truck on the tarmac sits along the runway during an ongoing investigation at LaGuardia Airport in New York City on March 25, 2026. The plane had landed after a flight from Montreal when it collided with a fire truck, resulting in the deaths of the two pilots and dozens of injuries. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

A firefighter in the truck involved in the deadly crash with an Air Canada Express jet last month at New York’s LaGuardia Airport heard an air traffic controller shout “stop, stop, stop” but didn’t realize the warning was for him, U.S. federal investigators say.

The preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board pointed to a series of failures contributing to the March 22 crash that killed Capt. Antoine Forest and First Officer Mackenzie Gunther and injured half of the 72 passengers on Air Canada Express Flight 8646.