The runway at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, where a plane collided with a fire truck, killing two pilots and injuring several others, reopened Thursday morning.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced the tarmac resumed operations around 10 a.m., after the runway and its infrastructure were “repaired, inspected, and confirmed” to meet Federal Aviation Administration safety regulations.
Reopening the second of LaGuardia’s two runways, at one of the nation’s busiest airports, is expected to “restore full operational capacity,” according to the agency overseeing the region’s airports.
Travelers are still advised to check with their airlines, however, as LaGuardia continues to register the most delays and cancellations nationwide, with over 300 flights canceled in the past 24 hours, according to FlightAware.
The destroyed Air Canada plane and the fire truck were towed from the crash site late Wednesday as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) continues its investigation.
The NTSB said Thursday the truck has been placed in an undisclosed, secure location, deferring questions about the plane’s status to Air Canada. The airline, which didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, has stated the plane would be placed in a hangar and efforts to reunite passengers with their belongings would soon begin.
The collision occurred late Sunday night when an Air Canada regional jet, carrying 76 people and arriving from Montreal, struck an airport fire truck.
The truck had been cleared to cross the runway to respond to a separate incident on another aircraft. Roughly 40 people received hospital treatment for injuries, including two firefighters and a flight attendant who survived after being thrown onto the tarmac while still strapped in her seat. Most have since been released.
Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau also apologized Thursday for his inability to express himself in French, following calls for his resignation over an English-only message of condolence.
