Fiorello H. LaGuardia Airport in New York is currently closed until further notice due to a crash which occurred on Sunday, March 22, 2026 at approximately 11:40 in the evening Eastern Daylight Time and resulted in the deaths of two pilots and caused at least 41 people to be sent to hospitals in the area.
LaGuardia Airport Closed Due to Crash: March 2026 Travel Alert
The following messages are from the official X social media account of LaGuardia Airport:
At approximately 11:40 p.m. on Sunday, a Jazz Aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada was involved in an incident on Runway 4 at LaGuardia Airport in which the aircraft struck a Port Authority Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting vehicle that was responding to a separate incident.
Emergency response protocols were immediately activated. The Port Authority Police Department is on scene along with the agency’s Chairman and Executive Director. The airport is currently closed to facilitate the response and allow for a thorough investigation. This is a developing situation based on preliminary information.
The Port Authority Police Department is working closely with our airline partners as well as federal authorities and will provide additional updates as more details become available.
The National Transportation Safety Board is on site. The airport will remain closed until at least 2:00pm Monday 3/23/26 to allow for a thorough investigation.
Due to emergency LaGuardia Airport is closed. Check with your airline for the latest flight information before coming to the airport.
Although some of the people who were taken to hospitals suffered from serious injuries as a result of the crash, many of them have since been released from treatment.
The flight originated at Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, which is the major airport serving Montréal. 72 passengers and four members of the flight crew were aboard the airplane at the time of the crash.
Flight Waivers, Delays and Cancellations
If you are traveling to or from LaGuardia Airport over the next few days, expect delays and cancellations of flights. Keep up to date on the latest information pertaining to this incident which may adversely affect your travel plans. Better yet, postponing or canceling your trip might be a better option — no matter which mode of travel you plan on taking.
If you have a flight scheduled, your flight may be delayed or canceled — and you may be eligible for a waiver of a fee to change your itinerary.
Here are six airlines which have issued travel alerts as a result of this weather system:
- American Airlines has issued a travel alert for LaGuardia Airport for Monday, March 23, 2026; and Wednesday, March 25, 2026 is the last day on which tickets must be reissued and rebooked travel must begin.
- Delta Air Lines has issued travel alerts for four airports in the greater New York metropolitan area for Monday, March 23, 2026 through Tuesday, Monday, March 24, 2026; and Friday, March 27, 2026 is the last day on which tickets must be reissued and rebooked travel must begin.
- United Airlines has issued a travel alert for LaGuardia Airport for Monday, March 23, 2026; and Monday, April 6, 2026 is the last day on which tickets must be reissued and rebooked travel must begin.
- Southwest Airlines has issued a travel alert for LaGuardia Airport for Monday, March 23, 2026; and Tuesday, March 10, 2026 is the last day on which tickets must be reissued and rebooked travel must begin.
- Air Canada has issued a travel alert for LaGuardia Airport for Monday, March 23, 2026 through Tuesday, Monday, March 24, 2026.
- Porter Airlines has issued a travel alert for LaGuardia Airport for Monday, March 23, 2026.
Final Boarding Call
Once LaGuardia Airport resumes operations, a domino effect of late flights or canceled flights will occur over at least the next couple of days — especially when combined with long lines at security checkpoints at the airport due to the partial shutdown of the federal government of the United States — so if your itinerary of flights includes LaGuardia Airport as your origination, destination, or connection, check with the airline for the latest updates.
In the meantime, my thoughts and prayers are with the people who were affected by this incident — especially the families of the deceased pilots…
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
