NEW YORK (AP) — The runway where two pilots were killed in a collision between a jet and a fire truck reopened Thursday morning at New York's LaGuardia Airport, which had been operating at limited capacity all week as investigators examined the wreckage and work crews cleaned up debris.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the tarmac resumed operations at around 10 a.m. after the runway and its associated infrastructure were “repaired, inspected, and confirmed” to meet Federal Aviation Administration regulations for safe operation.
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Pilots carry the casket during the repatriation of Jazz Aviation First Officer Mackenzie Gunther, who died after his Air Canada Express plane collided with a fire truck at New York's LaGuardia Airport, in Ottawa, Ontario, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
Port Authority fire fighters and aircraft maintenance crews cut away debris from the wreckage of an Air Canada Express jet, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, just off the runway where it had collided with a Port Authority fire truck Sunday night at LaGuardia Airport in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Officials inspect the wreckage of an Air Canada Express jet, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, just off the runway where it had collided with a Port Authority fire truck Sunday night at LaGuardia Airport in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Airport firefighters remove loose debris from the wreckage of an Air Canada Express jet, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, just off 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 agency, which oversees the region’s airports, said reopening the second of two runways at LaGuardia, one of the busiest airports in the nation, will help “restore full operational capacity,” though it advised travelers to still check with their airline for flight status.
LaGuardia continues to register the most delays and cancellations among airports in the country with more than 300 canceled in the last 24 hours, according to Flight Aware, a flight tracking website.
The bodies of the two Air Canada pilots, meanwhile, were being repatriated to Canada.
Pilots carried the casket of Jazz Aviation first officer Mackenzie Gunther off a plane at the Ottawa International Airport on Thursday afternoon. Capt. Antoine Forest’s body was then flown from Ottawa to Montréal Trudeau International Airport.
Gunther, 30, and Forest, 24, died when their Air Canada plane collided with a firetruck after landing at LaGuardia.
Hundreds of pilots and flight staff waited in the rain, lined up in front of Air Canada’s Montreal headquarters to honor Forest.
Capt. Tim Perry, president of the Air Line Pilots Association Canada, said the pilot community is mourning the two young aviators.
“No family should go through this,” he said,
The destroyed Air Canada plane and the fire truck were towed from the crash site late Wednesday as the National Transportation Safety Board continues its investigation.
The agency said Thursday that the truck has been placed in an undisclosed, secure location and deferred to questions about the status of the plane to Air Canada, which didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The airline has said the plane would be placed in a hangar and that it would soon begin the process of reuniting passengers with their baggage and personal belongings.
Michael Rousseau, the company's CEO, also apologized Thursday for his inability to express himself in French after facing calls to resign over his English-only message of condolence.
The crash happened late Sunday night as an Air Canada regional jet arriving from Montreal and carrying 76 people struck an airport fire truck that had initially been cleared to cross the runway to respond to a separate incident aboard another plane.
Roughly 40 people were treated at hospitals for injuries, including the two firefighters and a flight attendant who survived after being thrown onto the tarmac while still strapped in her seat. Most have since been released from the hospital.
Gillies reported from Toronto.
Pilots carry the casket during the repatriation of Jazz Aviation First Officer Mackenzie Gunther, who died after his Air Canada Express plane collided with a fire truck at New York's LaGuardia Airport, in Ottawa, Ontario, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
Port Authority fire fighters and aircraft maintenance crews cut away debris from the wreckage of an Air Canada Express jet, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, just off the runway where it had collided with a Port Authority fire truck Sunday night at LaGuardia Airport in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Officials inspect the wreckage of an Air Canada Express jet, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, just off the runway where it had collided with a Port Authority fire truck Sunday night at LaGuardia Airport in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Airport firefighters remove loose debris from the wreckage of an Air Canada Express jet, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, just off the runway where it had collided with a Port Authority fire truck Sunday night at LaGuardia Airport in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
NEW YORK (AP) — Kamala Harris “wrote off rural America" during the 2024 presidential campaign and failed to attack Donald Trump with sufficient “negative firepower," according to a long-awaited post-election autopsy released on Thursday by the Democratic National Committee.
The committee's chair, Ken Martin, shared the 192-page report only after facing intense internal pressure from frustrated Democratic operatives concerned with his leadership. Martin had originally promised to release the autopsy, only to keep it under wraps for months because he was concerned it would be a distraction ahead of the midterms as Democrats mobilize to take back control of Congress.
On Tuesday, Martin apologized for his handling of the situation and conceded that the report was withheld because it “was not ready for primetime."
Although the autopsy criticizes Democrats' focus on “identity politics,” it sidesteps some of the most controversial elements of the 2024 campaign. The report does not address former President Joe Biden’s decision to seek reelection, the rushed selection of Harris to replace him on the ticket or the party's acrimonious divide over the war in Gaza.
“I am not proud of this product; it does not meet my standards, and it won’t meet your standards,” Martin wrote in an essay on Substack on Thursday. “I don’t endorse what’s in this report, or what’s left out of it. I could not in good faith put the DNC’s stamp of approval on it. But transparency is paramount.”
A spokesperson for Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The initial reaction from Democratic operatives was a mix of bafflement and anger over Martin's handling of the situation.
“Why not say this in 2024, or bring in more people to finish it, instead of turning this into the dumbest media cycle for 7-8 months?” Democratic strategist Steve Schale wrote on social media.
The postelection report, which was authored by Democratic consultant Paul Rivera, calls for “a renewed focus on the voters of Middle America and the South, who have come to believe they are not included in the Democratic vision of a stronger and more dynamic America for everyone.”
“Millions of Americans are suffering from poor access to healthcare, manufacturing and job losses, and a failing infrastructure, yet continue to be persuaded to vote against their best interests because they do not see themselves reflected in the America of the Democratic Party,” the report says.
The autopsy points to a reduction in support and training for Democratic state parties, voter registration shifts and “a persistent inability or unwillingness to listen to all voters.”
Thursday's release comes as Martin confronts a crisis of confidence among party officials who are increasingly concerned about the health of their political machine barely a year into his term. Some Democratic operatives have had informal discussions about recruiting a new chair, even though most believe that Martin’s job wasn't in serious jeopardy ahead of the midterm elections.
The report found that Harris and her allies failed to focus enough on Trump's negatives, especially his felony convictions. This was part of a broader criticism that Democrats' messaging is too focused on reason and winning arguments, “even in cycles when the electorate is defined by rage.”
“There was a decision in the 2024 Democratic leadership not to engage in negative advertising at the scale required,” the report states. “The Trump campaign and supportive Super PACs went full throttle against Vice President Harris, but there was not sufficient or similar negative firepower directed at Trump by Democrats.”
The report continues: “It was essential to prosecute a more effective case as to why Trump should have been disqualified from ever again taking office. The grounds were there, but the messaging did not make the case.”
Trump's attack on Harris' transgender policies were cited as a key contrast.
Specifically, the report suggested the Democratic nominee was “boxed” in by the Trump campaign's “very effective” ad that highlighted Harris' previous statement of support for taxpayer-funded gender-affirming surgeries for prison inmates.
Democratic pollsters believed that “if the Vice President would not change her position – and she did not – then there was nothing which would have worked as a response," the report said.
The report criticized Harris' outreach to key segments of America while condemning the party's focus on “identity politics.”
“Harris wrote off rural America, assuming urban/suburban margins would compensate. The math doesn’t work,” the report says. “You can’t lose rural areas by overwhelming margins and make it up elsewhere when rural voters are a significant share of the electorate. If Democrats are to reclaim leadership in the Heartland or the South, candidates must perform well in rural turf. Show up, listen, and then do it again.”
The report also references Democrats' underperformance with male voters of color.
“Male voters require direct engagement. The gender gap can be narrowed. Deploy male messengers, address economic concerns, and don’t assume identity politics will hold male voters of color,” it says.
President Donald Trump speaks during an event about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Former Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a fireside chat on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
FILE - Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at DNC headquarters, Jan. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert, File)
