NTSB details black box transcript minute by minute from Air Canada Flight 8646 moments before crash

Fox ^ | March 24, 2026 | Staff

[xxqqzz]

Investigators say the emergency vehicle had been cleared to cross the runway to check on another aircraft reporting an odor when the collision occurred.

[xxqqzz]

Gives events in 3 minutes leading up to the accident. Controller cleared truck to cross runway 20 seconds before crash. Plane touched down about 10 seconds before crash. They switched pilot in control 4 seconds before crash!? Other sources indicate passengers said plane was using breaks and reverse thrusters hard. A passenger jet is going at least 150 mph when touching down. Probably slowed down somewhat in a few seconds. Damage probably from speed and truck being more dense than plane. Seems like screw up be controller, but night and foggy.

[Samurai_Jack]

ya beyond the condolences for the families of the pilots. My heart breaks for the controller running this. He lost it at a critical moment. It demonstrates a human vulnerability that a machine would not have missed. He has to live with that for the remainder of his life.

[PAR35]

From the audio, it sounds like the controller told the truck to stop once it was on the runway. In any event, the controller appears to have forgotten he gave the plane clearance to land, and wasn’t keeping track of where it was.

And the United pilots should have been contacting their own folks for a gate. It really didn’t sound like much of an emergency. They were offered steps, but were willing to wait for a gate. If they didn’t have to wait too long. That aspect needs a full investigation as well.

[T.B. Yoits]

And the United pilots should have been contacting their own folks for a gate. It really didn’t sound like much of an emergency. They were offered steps, but were willing to wait for a gate...

The United pilots reported a suspicious smell and were concerned it could be a fire. As such, you would want to go to a gate that the emergency responders determined was best for their response, not the gate most convenient for the airline staff.

When you pull your truck to the side of a highway with a potential fire, you move as directed by emergency responders, not your home office.

[jroehl]

I bet you it was NOT a white guy that forgot to place a transponder in that fire truck.

[PAR35]

I don’t recall the United pilot ever saying that it smelled like smoke. And if he really thought there was a fire, he would have popped the slides, not vacillated between wanting steps and waiting for a gate.

The United passengers and flight attendants do need to be questioned about the smell that was making a flight attendant nauseated. (Which is not how most folks would describe smelling smoke.)

United did significantly contribute to the problem - the warning light on takeoff which appears to have been a maintenance issue or something missed on preflight, the pilot making a mountain out of a molehill to try to push the ground folks to giving him a gate.

As for the truck - no one looked out the right side windows and noticed a very close set of landing lights?

The only ones that don’t have any blame here are the pilots of the Canadian plane.

[Gay State Conservative]

IIRC the ATC guy acknowledged at one point that he might have screwed up. If he did,in fact,do so the two questions that must be asked are is this controller just worthless or was inadequate staffing at the tower a factor?

[mewzilla]

ATC shouldn’t have cleared that truck.

That truck should have had a (functioning?) transponder.

The driver of the truck was required to check for traffic on the runway ednen after being cleared. Did he?

Vehicles behind the truck waiting to cross the runway might have been clustered together too closely for the surface alert alert system to issue a reliable alert. If so, why didn’t the drivers keep an appropriate distance.

Did the United flight still on the tarmac that the truck was responding to really need to issue an emergency for a bad smell?! WTH is that all about.

What a cluster.

[Gay State Conservative]

You probably know that there are guys on youtube who claim to be pilots...or former pilots...who post videos on air travel topics. I've seen several who have already weighed in on this incident. I'm no expert in such matters but it seems likely to me that it will take time for a thorough investigation to take place. IIRC one of the pilot videos I've seen suggested that it's not as easy as one might think for a truck driver to see that an approaching plane is really close or for a pilot to spot a truck on the runway that might cause his plane a problem.

[mewzilla]

Per AI, using FAA onfo...

“Yes, jet transponders work on the ground and are crucial for airport safety, particularly for runway incursion prevention. Modern transponders (Mode S) used with ADS-B Out broadcast location data while taxiing, allowing controllers to track planes on ground movement systems like ASDE-X. Pilots are generally advised to leave them in altitude-reporting mode (ALT) while on the airport surface.”

So why not use a plane’s transponder to trigger a red stop light at an intersection so a vehicle attempting to cross a runway, no matter how foul the weather, knows to sit tight or ask the tower for an override...

[null and void]

So why not use a plane’s transponder to trigger a red stop light at an intersection so a vehicle attempting to cross a runway, no matter how foul the weather, knows to sit tight or ask the tower for an override...

An excellent idea!

[volare737]

That would be totally impractical. There are numerous intersections on every runway, sometimes up to 10 or more on really long runways. You would have to have lights at every intersection on BOTH sides, so double that number.

I looked at the LGA airport diagram and counted 26 intersections because they have 2 runways and many taxiways . Some airports have 3 runways, so triple it. Some big airports have even more, like O’ Hare which has 8 runways. How would that be coordinated ? Would one aircraft shut down the all the runways?

Also, at smaller airports, in smaller cities, some aircraft don’t have a transponder. In addition, some aircraft aren’t even required to have one, it depends on the airspace and airport design. The cost and maintenance for every airport would be astronomical also.

[ridesthemiles]

THERE IS ONLY ONE FIRE STATION AT THE AIRPORT.

TRUCKS MUST CROSS RUNWAYS.

IMO-—A 2ND FIRE STATION-—ONE ON EACH SIDE OF RUNWAYS-— WOULD BE PRUDENT.

NOT EXACTLY NEW TECHNOLOGY

[volare737]

What about big airports with multiple runways? There would always be a need to cross a runway somewhere on the airport.

[null and void]

Would that cost more than the loss of a passenger jet with all souls on board?

[volare737]

As I said, ignoring the cost, it is TOTALLY impractical.

[null and void]

Wouldn’t most of your issues evaporate with a well trained AI oversight?

[volare737]

I have no idea. Maybe,,,,,,,possibly,,,,,,if it can be proved to be 100% reliable. Unfortunately, flying (and most things) can never be 100% safe. We can only do our best, within practical limits, to increase safety and reduce the chance of human error.

[null and void]

Yes. Very well stated.

[volare737]

Thank you. It is nice to have a civil discussion here for a change. My solution is 2 part, and will not cost one penny.

FIRST, anyone that gets certified to cross a runaway at any airport is required (during training for certification) to watch the video of the LGA accident. It should be required at all recurrent training also. Hopefully, that would elevate their situational awareness to visually check the runway and accomplish my second requirement,,,,,

SECOND…..Before any ground vehicle could cross a runway, they must make 2 transmissions, instead of just one,,,,, i.e.

Truck 123,,,,,, “Tower, Truck 123 request permission to cross RUNWAY XX at Intersection YY”

Tower,,,,,, “Truck 123 cleared to cross Runway XX at YY”

Truck 123,,,,,”Tower, CONFIRM Truck 123 cleared to cross XX at YY”

Tower,,,,,,”Truck 123, confirmed cleared to cross XX at YY”

That would require REDUNDANCY that is the basis for all aircraft design. Every aircraft has redundancy built in—so that no one failure is catastrophic. It would be the same here. Again, there is still the human factor here, but it at least increases by another layer of safety. It would make Tower take a second look.

P.S. A couple more comments here, LGA is absolutely the worst airport in the country when it comes to confusing taxiways,,,,it is a mess. Next, radio communications are incredibly busy, so any additional transmissions make it even more busy. But vehicles don’t cross runways that often, so a single additional transmission every now and then would not be a big burden,,,it would only be one, and take a couple of seconds.

Obe other comment, sometimes Ground can clear you to cross a runway, but Tower must approve. Tower remains in control of the active runway. Sorry for the long tant.