Fire truck in deadly LaGuardia crash lacked equipment needed to trigger warning system, NTSB say
A Sprit Airlines jet taxis past an Air Canada Express jet sitting on the side of a runway, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, where it had collided with a Port Authority fire truck Sunday night at LaGuardia Airport in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
By: MICHAEL R. SISAK, JOSH FUNK and JOHN SEEWER
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal investigators say a runway warning system didn’t trigger an alarm before an Air Canada jet and a fire truck collided at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.
National Transportation Safety Board chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said during a news conference Tuesday that the system didn’t work as intended because the fire truck did not have a transponder.
The plane carrying more than 70 people slammed into the fire truck while landing late Sunday night, killing the two pilots and injuring several passengers. Most, though, were able to escape the mangled aircraft, and a flight attendant still strapped in her seat survived after being thrown onto the tarmac.
Deal emerges to end Homeland Security budget standoff as TSA disruptions deepen
Travelers line up at a TSA checkpoint at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)
By: LISA MASCARO and JOEY CAPPELLETTI
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators raced Tuesday to clinch an emerging proposal to end the Homeland Security shutdown by funding much of the department, including the unpaid Transportation Security Administration airport workers, but excluding ICE operations that have been core to the dispute.
The sudden sense of urgency comes as U.S. airports are snarled by long security lines, with travelers being told to arrive hours before their flights in Houston, Atlanta and Baltimore Washington International. Routine Homeland Security funding was halted in mid-February ahead of the busy spring travel season. Nearly 11% of TSA workers — more than 3,200 — missed work Monday, and at least 458 have quit altogether since the shutdown began, according to DHS.
Historic Hawaii floods leave 2,000 people without power
The Ala Wai Golf Course is seen inundated with water from the recent storms, as Hawaiians work to recover from one of the worst floods in decades, in Waikiki, Hawaii, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
By: JESSICA HILL
More than 2,000 people remained without power Sunday afternoon after Hawaii suffered its worst flooding in more than 20 years when heavy rains fell across the islands.
Heavy rains fell on soil already saturated by downpours from a winter storm a week ago. Raging waters lifted homes and cars, causing an expected $1 billion in damages. The storm prompted evacuation orders for 5,500 people north of Honolulu — though they were later lifted — and more than 200 people were rescued from the rising waters. No deaths have been reported as of yet, Molly Pierce, spokesperson for Oahu’s Department of Emergency Management, said Sunday afternoon.
