An Air Canada passenger plane smashed into a rescue truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport late Sunday — killing two pilots and hospitalizing 41 others in the horrific crash that obliterated the front of the jet and forced the major travel hub to close for most of Monday.
Emergency vehicles swarmed Runway 4 at the Queens airport after a regional jet landing from Montreal struck a rescue truck responding to a separate incident just before 11:40 p.m.
Horrific images showed the front of the commuter plane obliterated and tilted up in the air, with debris and cables hanging from the mangled cockpit.
The pilot and co-pilot in the mangled front were both killed, sources told The Post, with many of the 72 passengers and four crew members on the Bombardier CRJ-900 jet also injured.
The 41 hospitalized included two cops on the rescue truck. The pair, who work on the Port Authority Police Department’s Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighter Unit, which is staffed by police to respond to aircraft emergencies, suffered broken bones and are expected to survive, sources said.
A female flight attendant was ejected through the front of the aircraft while still in her seat during the crash — and survived. Port Authority cops helped rescue her, and she was brought to the hospital, sources added.
Kathryn Garcia, the Port Authority executive director, told reporters that 32 of the 41 hospitalized have since been released. Some were “seriously injured,” she said, without elaborating on how many or how seriously.
Some passengers were taken to Elmhurst and Queens Presbyterian hospitals, a source told NBC News.
Sources said the plane was carrying a group of Orthodox Jews from the New York area.
The Air Canada flight was rolling down the runway when it struck the truck as it crossed the runway, according to FlightRadar24.
Air traffic control audio obtained by the outlet showed that the rescue truck had been cleared to cross Runway 4 at taxiway D — though the tower controller can be heard repeatedly yelling at “Truck 1” to stop just moments before the smash, then dispatching more ARFF units to the scene.
The truck had been responding to a separate incident when the collision occurred, police said.
Photos captured the ARFF truck completely mangled and toppled onto its side, as well as the obliterated front of the aircraft.
The images also showed debris scattered all over the runway as emergency personnel assessed the wreck.
LaGuardia Airport issued an alert late Sunday warning that rainy and cloudy weather could disrupt operations at the travel hub.
The airport is closed until 2 p.m. Monday, and the FAA has issued a ground stop due to the aircraft emergency.
“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,” the Port Authority Police Department said in a statement to The Post.
The FAA did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was going to send investigators.
