Mangled plane in LaGuardia crash is towed from runway as most injured passengers leave hospital

NEW YORK (AP) — All but four of the passengers injured in Sunday’s deadly collision between an Air Canada plane and a fire truck have been released from the hospital, the airline said Wednesday, as crews began moving the mangled aircraft off the runaway at New York's LaGuardia Airport.

The crash, which remains under investigation, killed two pilots. Roughly 40 people were treated at area hospitals for a range of injuries, some serious. Further details on the four people who remained hospitalized were not immediately available.

The plane, which originated in Montreal, was carrying 76 people, including the crew, when it slammed into the fire truck that had driven out onto the runway. Seconds before the collision, an air traffic controller had cleared the truck to cross the runway.

Since Monday, much of the wreckage had remained on the tarmac, blocking access to one of two runways at one of the country's busiest airports.

Just before 5 p.m. on Wednesday, airport workers began towing the remnants away. Two big tow trucks working in tandem also righted the badly damaged fire truck, which had been laying on its side since the crash.

The jet’s tail end was lifted onto a large dolly, which was then towed via long tethers by two vehicles driving side by side. Earlier in the day, much of the wreckage of the nose, which was obliterated in the collision, was cut away by work crews. As it was towed, the middle of the plane was supported by its own landing gear, which appeared to be intact.

In a statement, Air Canada said the plane would be taken to a hangar. The airline said it would soon begin the process of reuniting people with baggage and personal belongings.

After the collision, many onboard managed to escape the damaged aircraft, including a flight attendant who survived after being thrown onto the tarmac while still strapped in her seat.

The two pilots have been identified as Mackenzie Gunther and Antoine Forest. At least one passenger, Clément Lelièvre, credited their “incredible reflexes” in saving his life and those of others, noting they braked extremely hard just as the plane touched down.

The two Port Authority Police Department firefighters in the truck survived.

This story has been corrected to reflect that there were 76 people aboard the plane, not 70.

Airplane enthusiast Jean-Francois Lamarche visits a memorial for Air Canada Jazz pilot Antoine Forest, who perished when his plane collided with an emergency vehicle at New York's LaGuardia Airport, in Montreal, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

A man places a white rose on the memorial for Air Canada Jazz pilot Antoine Forest, who perished when his plane collided with an emergency vehicle at New York's LaGuardia Airport, in Montreal, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

An airport maintenance crew moves the wreckage of an Air Canada Express jet, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, from the runway where it had collided with a Port Authority fire truck Sunday night at LaGuardia Airport, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

The wreckage of Port Authority fire truck is left on a tarmac after the wreckage of an Air Canada Express jet was moved from the runway, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, where they collided Sunday night at LaGuardia Airport, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

An Air Canada Express jet taxis past the wreckage of an Air Canada Express jet, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, as maintenance crews prepare to move the plane from the runway where it had collided with a Port Authority fire truck Sunday night at LaGuardia Airport, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko arrived in North Korea’s capital on Wednesday for an official visit during which he is to hold talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Lukashenko was greeted at Pyongyang’s airport by North Korean vice premier Kim Tok Hun and later in the day by Kim Jong Un himself during a pomp-filled ceremony at the Kim Il Sung Square, named after his state-founding grandfather, according to the Belarusian president’s press service.

North Korean state media said Kim and Lukashenko laid flowers at a memorial honoring Soviet soldiers who died during the 1950–53 Korean War. The conflict mainly pitted North Korean and Chinese forces against South Korea and U.S.-led United Nations troops, though Moscow also provided ammunition, warplanes and pilots to support the North.

Lukashenko also visited a mausoleum displaying the embalmed bodies of Kim’s grandfather and father, the country’s first two leaders, according to North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency.

Lukashenko, the autocratic ruler of Belarus for over three decades, is a close Kremlin ally and allowed Russia to use Belarusian territory as a staging ground for Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and later authorized the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Kim has also prioritized Russia in recent years, sending thousands of troops and large quantities of weapons to support Russian President Vladimir Putin ’s war in Ukraine, while pursuing a more assertive foreign policy aimed at expanding ties with countries that oppose Washington.

During a speech at North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament on Monday, Kim accused the United States of global “state terrorism and aggression,” in an apparent reference to the war in the Middle East and called for Pyongyang to play a stronger role in a united front against Washington amid rising anti-American sentiment.

According to Belarus' state news agency Belta, bilateral ties between North Korea and Belarus are on the agenda of the two leaders' talks. Lukashenko last met Kim in September 2025 in Beijing and was invited to visit North Korea, the agency reported. In 2024, Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov visited North Korea.

Ryzhenkov said the countries will sign a friendship and cooperation treaty during Lukashenko's visit.

In this photo released by Belarus' Presidential Press Service, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, right, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, left, attend an official meeting ceremony in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Belarus' Presidential Press Service via AP)

In this photo released by Belarus' Presidential Press Service, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, center left, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, center right, attend an official meeting ceremony in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Belarus' Presidential Press Service via AP)

In this photo released by Belarus' Presidential Press Service, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, right, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, center, walk during official meeting ceremony in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Belarus' Presidential Press Service via AP)

In this photo released by Belarus' Presidential Press Service, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, left, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko greet each other during official meeting ceremony in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Belarus' Presidential Press Service via AP)

In this photo released by Belarus' Presidential Press Service, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, center, arrives to the Pyongyang International Airport, outside Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Belarus' Presidential Press Service via AP)

In this photo released by Belarus' Presidential Press Service, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, center, arrives to the Pyongyang International Airport, outside Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Belarus' Presidential Press Service via AP)