Two people have di£d after a passenger jet collided with an airport fire engine on a runway at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, prompting a full emergency shutdown of one of the nation’s busiest air hubs and a sweeping federal investigation.

The aircraft, a Jazz Aviation regional jet operating as an Air Canada Express flight from Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members when it struck a Port Authority Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting vehicle on Runway 4. The fire engine, officials said, had been responding to a separate incident elsewhere on the airfield.

Authorities confirmed that two members of the fire crew di£d in the collision. Several other people, including at least one firefighter and occupants of the aircraft, were evaluated for injuries, though officials have not released a full casualty count. Passengers were evacuated on the runway, some using emergency slides, and were later transported to the terminal for medical assessment and interviews.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees LaGuardia, said its police department, senior leadership and emergency teams converged on the scene within minutes. The runway was immediately closed, forcing a temporary suspension of arrivals and departures as investigators documented debris, skid marks and the final positions of the jet and the fire engine.

Jazz Aviation confirmed the incident in a statement, noting that its passenger and crew manifest remained preliminary pending verification. Air Canada said it was cooperating fully with investigators and providing support to those on board.

The Federal Aviation Administration has opened a formal investigation, focusing on how an emergency vehicle came to be in the path of an active aircraft and whether there were failures in communication, ground control procedures or adherence to safety protocols. The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to examine cockpit voice and flight data recorders, as well as radio transmissions between the tower, ground controllers, the flight crew and emergency responders.

Videos posted on social media showed the jet stationary on the runway with extensive damage to its nose and forward fuselage, surrounded by emergency vehicles under bright floodlights. The collision has renewed scrutiny of runway safety at congested airports and the complex choreography required when aircraft movements intersect with emergency responses on active airfields.