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New York governor says LaGuardia to stay closed until 2pm after 'heartbreaking' crash
New York governor Kathy Hochul reacted to the crash on Monday morning, paying tribute to the victims and their families. She also said the airport would remain closed until early afternoon local time.
Hochul wrote on X:
Heartbreaking news out of LaGuardia this morning. Two pilots were killed and dozens injured in this tragedy. Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and everyone affected. The airport will remain closed until 2pm. We’ll continue to share updates as they become available.
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There are more pictures coming to us via the news agencies – showing lines snaking through airports and some travelers venting their frustration about huge delays.
Travelers vent frustration at long lines at Atlanta airport
George Chidi
Lines at Hartsfield Jackson international airport at 8am wound inside and out of the staging area, easily three to four hours long as ICE agents arrived to assist with security screening on Monday.
The partial government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security has left America’s busiest airport without most of its TSA agents. The situation has become confusing and frustrating for passengers and staff.
“I asked someone, and they said they’re trying to kill this line that we’re in. I’ve been in it since about 6.20am,” a passenger flying to Minnesota said at 8am, standing in a line that reached all the way outside of the building to the passenger drop-off area on the sidewalk.
“It’s total chaos,” said Tom Healey of Alpharetta, trying to make a Louisville flight. He had been in line for three hours by 8am; his flight is scheduled for around 9am.
“Look at what happened at LaGuardia,” he said, noting the fatal collision of a cargo plane with a truck this morning. “My wife’s got to fly out of that place. She was supposed to fly out of LaGuardia today. She’s got to go out of White Plains and then Washington DC, and then here. So it’s crazy.”
Donald Trump deployed ICE agents to assist with passenger screening in Atlanta on Monday. Agents could be seen unmasked in the terminal.
“According to federal officials, these personnel will be assigned to support operational needs directed by the Transportation Security Administration,” said Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens, “including line management and crowd control within the domestic terminals. Federal officials have indicated that this deployment is not intended to conduct immigration enforcement activities.”
The general public does not routinely interact with immigration enforcement agents. For many travelers, this will be the first time they have seen an ICE agent in person.
Trump tells ICE agents 'NO MASKS' during airport deployments
Donald Trump has said ICE agents did not need to wear masks when deployed at airports.
ICE has repeatedly faced criticism for its agents hiding their faces during immigration raids. State officials across the US have said the face coverings add to a climate of fear in local communities and a lack of accountability.
Democratic lawmakers across the US have argued that federal law enforcement officials should not be allowed to wear face coverings.
On Monday, as ICE begins deploying to US airports to assist with security checks, Trump wrote on Truth Social:
I am a BIG proponent of ICE wearing masks as they search for, and are forced to deal with, hardened criminals, many of whom were let into our Country by Sleepy Joe Biden and his wonderful “Border Czar,” Kamala (she never even went to the Border!), through their absolutely INSANE Open Border Policy.
I would greatly appreciate, however, NO MASKS, when helping our Country out of the Democrat caused MESS at the airports, etc. Thank you! President DJT
Senator majority leader John Thune approached Donald Trump with a proposal that would support funding DHS with the exception of ICE, according to a Punchbowl report.
Thune’s proposal, which Democrats were reportedly prepared to accept, would aim to sort out ICE funding at a later stage, the publication reports. But the president rejected the plan on Sunday, according to multiple sources.
Atlanta airport authorities have warned long lines continue on Monday morning as TSA staffing constraints drag on.
Travelers were told to expect longer than normal wait times at security checkpoints and were urged to arrive at least four hours before their flights.
Photos on the news wires showed long lines stretching through the airport on Sunday evening:
Donald Trump’s immigration czar, Tom Homan, will lead the effort, the president said on Sunday.
Homan appeared on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday and said: “We will be at the airports tomorrow.” It remained unclear what responsibilities ICE officers will have, and Homan said on Sunday that details were still being finalized.
“There’s TSA agents covering exits. People that enter through the exits. Certainly a highly trained ICE law enforcement officer can cover an exit, make sure people don’t go through those exits, enter an airport through the exits,” he said on CNN.
“Stuff like that relieves that TSA officer to go to screening and to reduce those lines. I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine because they’re not trained in that. There’s certain parts of security that TSA’s doing that we can move them off those jobs and put them in the specialized jobs and help them move those lines.”
ICE agents spotted at US airports amid partial government shutdown
Meanwhile, ICE agents have been seen at several US airports after Donald Trump deployed the immigration enforcement officers to assist with security lines.
My colleague George Chidi has spotted immigration agents at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport:
ICE officers were also photographed at Louis Armstrong airport in New Orleans, Louisiana:
ICE agents are expected at 13 US airports today to help airport security agents who have been working without pay since 14 February because of a partial government shutdown.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said “ICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful [Transportation Security Administration] Agents who have stayed on the job despite” the shutdown resulting from a US Senate deadlock over stricter regulations on federal immigration enforcement.
Transportation secretary Sean Duffy said earlier this morning the US air safety watchdog was investigating the crash and was working with the federal aviation body.
Duffy also paid tributes to the pilots who were killed in the crash. Writing on X, he said: “Our prayers this morning are with the families impacted by the ground collision at LaGuardia.”
On Monday morning, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop for arrivals and departures at Newark international airport in New Jersey after reports of a burning smell prompted a tower evacuation.
The incident happened around 7.30am ET and the burning smell came from an elevator, the FAA said. The ground stop is in effect until about 8.30am, causing delays to flights at another major New York area airport.
Oliver Holmes
Photos showed significant damage to the nose of the plane, which was tilted upward. Stairways used to evacuate passengers from aircraft were pushed up to the emergency exits on the jet.
A photo of the fire vehicle showed it had tipped on to its side. NBC News had earlier said a sergeant and an officer had broken limbs and were in stable condition at a hospital.
The truck had been responding to a United Airlines flight, which had declared an emergency due to an odour reported onboard. Controllers told the aircraft that fire trucks were available on site.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the airport was expected to remain closed until 2pm on Monday to facilitate an investigation into the collision. Flightradar24 said 18 flights had been diverted to other airports, mostly in the New York area, or returned to their point of origin.
New York governor says LaGuardia to stay closed until 2pm after 'heartbreaking' crash
New York governor Kathy Hochul reacted to the crash on Monday morning, paying tribute to the victims and their families. She also said the airport would remain closed until early afternoon local time.
Hochul wrote on X:
Heartbreaking news out of LaGuardia this morning. Two pilots were killed and dozens injured in this tragedy. Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and everyone affected. The airport will remain closed until 2pm. We’ll continue to share updates as they become available.
Pilot and co-pilot killed after Air Canada jet collision at LaGuardia New York
The pilot and co-pilot of an Air Canada Express regional jet have been killed after it collided with a fire truck while landing at New York’s LaGuardia airport, in an incident that closed the airport.
Around 40 passengers and crew members were taken to area hospitals, some with serious injuries. Most have since been released from treatment, authorities said Monday.
The crash happened as a firefighting vehicle was responding to a separate incident, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport and reported having two employees hurt while they travelled in the fire truck.
The Air Canada Express CRJ-900 plane, operated by its partner Jazz Aviation, was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members, according to an airline statement.
In the moments before the crash, an air traffic controller could be heard on a radio transmission giving clearance to a vehicle to cross part of the runway, then trying to stop it.
“Stop, Truck 1. Stop,” the transmission says. The controller can then be heard quickly diverting incoming aircraft from landing.
Here is what else we’re looking at today:
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The crash came on the eve of the Trump administration deploying ICE agents to US airports to assist with security amid extremely long lines – and to help airport security agents who have been working without pay since 14 February because of a partial government shutdown.
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The supreme court is hearing arguments on whether states can count late-arriving mail ballots – a target of Trump’s. The outcome of the case could affect voters in 14 states and Washington DC. Another 15 states with more forgiving ballot deadlines could also be affected. A ruling is expected in June – and could affect the midterms.
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Republican senator Markwayne Mullin could be confirmed as new homeland security secretary on Monday. If approved, as expected, Mullin would replace Kristi Noem, whom Trump fired from the role of homeland security secretary on 5 March.
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