New York's LaGuardia Airport has been closed until further notice after a collision that killed two people Sunday night between a plane and a fire truck on a runway.

Several American media outlets, including NBC, CNN, and ABC, reported the deaths of the pilot and a co-pilot. ABC specified that 13 people were hospitalized, including 11 passengers and the two people who were in the vehicle.

The aircraft, a CRJ-900 operated by Jazz Aviation on behalf of Air Canada, "collided with a Port Authority emergency and firefighting vehicle that was responding to another incident," according to the public agency that manages the airport.

"Emergency response protocols were immediately activated" and "the airport is currently closed to facilitate the response and allow for a thorough investigation," Port Authority continued.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced that it had immediately deployed a team to investigate the accident.

According to Jazz Aviation, the plane landed in New York after taking off from Montreal with 72 passengers and 4 crew members on board, "although this remains to be confirmed," it said.

"Emergency"

AFP images show an Air Canada Express plane at night on a runway, its cockpit and front section severely damaged. Numerous emergency vehicles are also on site, according to the photos.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had announced the airport's closure shortly before, citing an "emergency." It added that the likelihood of the closure being extended was "high."

The flight tracking website FlightRadar24 indicated that the plane collided with the rescue vehicle during its landing.

He "was driving on the runway when he collided" with the vehicle that was crossing his path, according to FlightRadar24.

New York emergency services warned the public to "expect cancellations, road closures, traffic slowdowns and the presence of emergency personnel" near this major transportation hub located in the borough of Queens, which serves almost exclusively destinations in the United States and Canada.

"Take alternative routes," they recommended on X.

All flights departing from LaGuardia were delayed or cancelled Monday morning, according to the airport's website.

LaGuardia was already experiencing flight disruptions due to poor weather conditions, the airport said Sunday on X.

Passengers also had to wait longer to go through security checks due to "staffing repercussions" caused by the expiration of federal funding, the airport said last week.