Viral ATC Audio From Deadly LaGuardia Collision Captures Controller’s Final Words before Tragedy Strikes | LISTEN
New air traffic control recordings reveal the frantic moments before an Air Canada Express jet struck a fire truck, killing both pilots. The viral audio, featuring a controller admitting a mistake, provides key insight into the disaster.
A raw air traffic control recording from the fatal runway crash at LaGuardia Airport has gone viral after it was posted on X by conservative commentator and former U.S. Air Force pilot Buzz Patterson.
The approximately one-minute audio, originally monitored and recorded by aviation tracking services, captures the desperate moments as an Air Canada Express CRJ-900 was landing on Runway 4 late Sunday night.
In the tape, the controller repeatedly and urgently shouts:“Stop! Stop! Stop! Truck 1! Stop!”
The fire truck had been cleared to cross the active runway while responding to a separate earlier emergency. At the very end of the recording, after the collision had occurred, the controller is heard saying quietly, “I messed up.”
Patterson posted the full ATC audio on Monday morning with the caption:“My heart breaks for the families involved and it breaks for the controller. Listen to the very end of the tape. ”
The collision involved Air Canada Express Flight 8646 (operated by Jazz Aviation), a Bombardier CRJ-900 arriving from Montreal. The aircraft collided with the fire truck around 11:40 p.m. on Runway 4. The truck had been cleared by air traffic control to cross the runway while responding to a separate earlier incident.
Both the pilot and co-pilot were killed.
Forty-one people, including passengers, crew members and first responders, were hospitalized. Officials said 32 have since been released; the two Port Authority officers in the fire truck are reported in stable condition.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Federal Aviation Administration have launched investigations. The audio is expected to be central evidence.
LaGuardia Airport remained closed into Monday morning as a result of the crash.
The recording has sparked widespread reaction online, with many users expressing sympathy for the controller, the victims’ families, and the first responders.