Two pilots flying Air Canada jet killed in crash at LaGuardia Airport - 22 Mar 2026

[Halifax Tar]

Can anyone believe the priorities of this bunch of our elected representatives?

Time and place is lost concept to some.

This is about as useful as the RSM initiating a UDI because the guys who responed to a car crash had their shirt unbuttoned. It shows a lack of seriousness, and a vindictivness that is not flattering.

This sort of BS is why many of the 75% of Canadians who aren't French have a dim view of official bilingualism.

Bang on.

 

[YZT580]

Why? The airline’s CEO is talking to victims now, and leaving one of our official languages out. Again, within the arcs of that committee, it seems timely.

The Commons lanaguage committee isn’t neglecting any other role they would have in this incident today that. And the 75% of Canadians you refer to probably areN’t from Quebec, where this flight originated. Again, one of the pilots, and his family, are Francophone.


The official language of international civil aviation isn’t relevant to the disaster command for a crash of a flight originating out of Montreal.

With my EAB profile I’m very far from being an official bilingualism crusader. But I can definitely see why the Common committee that deals with language issues would have issue with an English only Air Canada CEO’s statement about a fatal crash in a Quebec origin flight.

EDIT TO ADD: Had the flight been out of Winnipeg, one Anglo pilot, one Franco, and the Air Canada CEO spoke only in French, and the House language committee called that out, would anyone here be making the same complaints? Just for some perspective.

Except the house committee wouldn't call him out for speaking just french

 

[YZT580]

For reference to the NTSB investigation,

The investigation’s findings could drive renewed FAA mandates for vehicle transponders, staffing reforms, and stricter coordination protocols between air and ground operations.

Missing transponder linked to fatal crash

Federal investigators say a missing transponder on a fire truck disabled LaGuardia Airport’s runway alert system before a deadly collision with an Air Canada jet. The NTSB is probing whether technology gaps, staffing pressures, or procedural failures contributed to the crash that killed both pilots and injured passengers. The incident has raised broader concerns about airport safety systems and chronic air traffic controller shortages.

Runway alert disabled by missing transponder

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy confirmed that LaGuardia’s ASDE-X surface surveillance system failed to sound an alarm because the fire truck involved in Sunday night’s crash was not equipped with a transponder. This meant controllers could not see its position on their display, a gap the FAA had warned about months earlier when urging airports to equip vehicles with such devices. Investigators are now assessing whether an alert could have prevented the collision, which killed both Air Canada pilots and injured several passengers.The absence of a transponder and the late warnings left no margin to avert disaster.

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I wonder if they have removed prime radar from their displays? If they haven't then the truck should be visible regardless: just not with a data tag. Technology will not correct for bad procedures for ever.

 

[lenaitch]

This is about as useful as the RSM initiating a UDI because the guys who responed to a car crash had their shirt unbuttoned. It shows a lack of seriousness, and a vindictivness that is not flattering.

This sort of BS is why many of the 75% of Canadians who aren't French have a dim view of official bilingualism.

Or me responding to the Barrie/Grand Valley tornadoes of 1985 and getting shit because I didn't have my hat on.

 

[brihard]

Or me responding to the Barrie/Grand Valley tornadoes of 1985 and getting shit because I didn't have my hat on.

You didn’t just tell them the tornado took it? That’s on you.

 

[mariomike]

Or me responding to the Barrie/Grand Valley tornadoes of 1985 and getting shit because I didn't have my hat on.

Or, crawling out from under a subway train, during a heat wave,

"Where's your tie!?"

 

[Cloud Cover]

Plot twist: Chorus Aviation, doing business as Jazz, is not owned by Air Canada, so the OL stipulations would presumably not apply.

But since the CEO of AC decided to intervene...

Chorus is sort of like an independent franchise without the independence.
It is tied to AC branding, licensing, supply,logistics, scheduling,booking and every other aspect of the business. I guess the military corollary would be Federal Fleets Asterix vessel and the RCN.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Is there something else the Commons language committee should be addressing on this? Seems like they’re within their arcs. Flight out of Montreal, one of the pilots was Francophone… Reasonable for that particular committee to ‘WTF?’ unilingual crisis comms. It would have taken much to do that in both official languages.

Well within their arcs, but is it worth the PM’s time/energy commenting, though?

<former comms geekery>And even if CEO man wasn’t comfortable giving a nuanced message at a sensitive time in a language he’s not good at, there’s NOBODY in the AC exec suites who would speak good enough French for this?</former comms geekery>

 

[brihard]

Well within their arcs, but is it worth the PM’s time/energy commenting, though?

Honest question cause I don’t know- did he go out of his way to do so, or was he asked about it and just replied?

 

[Cloud Cover]

Ok back to the sequence of event for the crash itself, this time from the CVR timer:

https://twitter.com/x/status/2036510542177652820

 

[The Bread Guy]

Honest question cause I don’t know- did he go out of his way to do so, or was he asked about it and just replied?

Rorschach of Political Comms: Politicians we like stick to their messaging and point out the important bits no matter the question, politicians we don't like ignore the question and say something that had nothing to do with it

If he wanted to say something different (like "our focus right now is on investigating this tragic incident, with our condolences going out to the families...." sorta thing), he could have no matter what was asked.

That said, I'm guessing this was more than just in his political peripheral vision, too ...
"Quebec politicians condemn Air Canada CEO over English-only condolence video"

 

[lenaitch]

For reference to the NTSB investigation,

The investigation’s findings could drive renewed FAA mandates for vehicle transponders, staffing reforms, and stricter coordination protocols between air and ground operations.

Missing transponder linked to fatal crash

Federal investigators say a missing transponder on a fire truck disabled LaGuardia Airport’s runway alert system before a deadly collision with an Air Canada jet. The NTSB is probing whether technology gaps, staffing pressures, or procedural failures contributed to the crash that killed both pilots and injured passengers. The incident has raised broader concerns about airport safety systems and chronic air traffic controller shortages.

Runway alert disabled by missing transponder

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy confirmed that LaGuardia’s ASDE-X surface surveillance system failed to sound an alarm because the fire truck involved in Sunday night’s crash was not equipped with a transponder. This meant controllers could not see its position on their display, a gap the FAA had warned about months earlier when urging airports to equip vehicles with such devices. Investigators are now assessing whether an alert could have prevented the collision, which killed both Air Canada pilots and injured several passengers.The absence of a transponder and the late warnings left no margin to avert disaster.

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Their NTSB, like our TSB, can only make recommendations. Their FAA is the regulator and has apparently been aware of deficiencies for some time.

*****

On another forum, some are saying that there should a ground stop and/or diversions if vehicles have to be on runways, which is totally unrealistic. Others are saying AI should be involved to manage the risk. Heaven help us.

 

[rnkelly]

This particular Air Canada CEO has a long history of making this mistake, for those not tracking or living in Quebec. The level of arrogance he has shown over the years has been impressive so there was no way he wasn’t going to get called out for this blunder. I’m from BC so I understand the other side of the coin but this CEO has been exceedingly obnoxious to Quebecers imo.

 

[daftandbarmy]

This particular Air Canada CEO has a long history of making this mistake, for those not tracking or living in Quebec. The level of arrogance he has shown over the years has been impressive so there was no way he wasn’t going to get called out for this blunder. I’m from BC so I understand the other side of the coin but this CEO has been exceedingly obnoxious to Quebecers imo.

After hundreds of hours of one on one French coaching, paid for by someone else, it's no wonder he can't speak French

 

[Jarnhamar]

Can anyone believe the priorities of this bunch of our elected representatives?

Absolutely.

The timing reminds me of gun owners bitching about gun control hours after a mass shooting.

Besides the AirCanada CEO position doesn't even require the person speak both official languages. Language police should start there first.