Two Pilots Dead After Jet Strikes Fire Truck at LaGuardia
The Morning Sixpack - 03/23/2026: LaGuardia crash kills pilots; ICE at airports; Trump nixes TSA deal; Iran bluff; Epstein money trail; Cuba blackout
Two Pilots Killed After Air Canada Jet Slams Into Fire Truck at LaGuardia
An Air Canada Express jet collided with a fire truck on the runway at LaGuardia Airport late Sunday, killing both pilots and injuring dozens in a chaotic overnight crash.
The aircraft had just landed from Montreal when it plowed into an emergency vehicle already on the runway.
The Bombardier CRJ-900, operating as Air Canada Express Flight 8646, was carrying 72 passengers and four crew when the collision happened around 11:40 p.m. EDT. The impact left the aircraft mangled, its nose jutting skyward in images from the scene, and triggered a massive emergency response across Queens.
Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia confirmed the grim toll early Monday. “Sadly, the two pilots are confirmed deceased,” she said. Forty-one passengers and crew members, along with two officers inside the fire truck, were taken to hospitals. Thirty-two have since been released, but officials acknowledged there were “serious injuries.”
The fire truck was responding to a separate incident on Runway 4 when the jet struck it. The FAA issued a ground stop just after midnight, and the airport remained closed until 2 p.m. as investigators began combing through the wreckage. Among the questions now facing the National Transportation Safety Board: the plane’s speed at impact, air traffic control staffing, and whether any breakdown in coordination put two vehicles in the same place at the worst possible time.
Complicating matters, the flight had departed Montreal more than two hours late and arrived similarly behind schedule. Streets and highway exits around LaGuardia were shut down overnight as emergency crews swarmed the scene and travelers braced for cancellations and delays. Another day, another aviation headline that leaves passengers staring at the departures board—and wondering what’s going on in the skies.
Source: UPI
Editor: When a fire truck and a passenger jet end up on the same runway at the same time, that’s not bad luck—that’s a system begging for answers.
Trump is sending ICE agents into America’s busiest airports during a shutdown, turning security lines into the latest front in his immigration fight.
Trump Deploys ICE Agents to U.S. Airports as TSA Workers Go Unpaid
President Trump has ordered ICE agents into 14 major airports nationwide to manage security lines during a Homeland Security funding standoff that has left TSA officers working without pay.
Paid immigration agents are now patrolling terminals while the security officers who screen passengers aren’t getting paychecks.
The deployment began Monday at airports including JFK, LaGuardia, Newark, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston and Phoenix. Administration officials say Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel will take over certain posts—like exit monitoring and perimeter roles—to free up Transportation Security Administration officers for screening duties as long waits stretch to three hours in some terminals.
Tom Homan, the White House border czar, said the move is about logistics, not enforcement sweeps. “This is about helping T.S.A. do their mission, and get the American public through that airport as quick as they can, while adhering to all the security guidelines and the protocols,” he said. ICE agents, he added, are “well trained” in identification and security procedures.
Still, the optics are combustible. The agents—some wearing vests marked “ICE”—are being paid because Congress previously approved billions for immigration enforcement. TSA officers, by contrast, are caught in the partial shutdown triggered by a funding fight over the Department of Homeland Security. “All we want is a paycheck,” said Johnny Jones, a TSA officer in Dallas. “We don’t need all these optics.”
Trump also weighed in on presentation. While saying he supports ICE agents wearing masks during enforcement operations, he urged them not to wear masks in airports, writing that he would “greatly appreciate” seeing “NO MASKS” during the deployment. The president continues to blame Democrats for the shutdown and has tied any funding deal to passage of the SAVE Act.
For travelers, the politics may be background noise. For Washington, it’s another escalation—immigration policy now unfolding not just at the border, but at Gate 22.
Source: The New York Times
Editor: When your airport security plan depends on immigration agents covering the exits, you’re not streamlining—you’re improvising.
NOTE: Trump sent ICE to SFO, which doesn’t even use TSA employees… so, it’s just an excuse to send armed goons into popular airports.
According to multiple insiders, Trump said no to a plan that would have reopened DHS funding—minus ICE.
Trump Rejected TSA Funding Deal as Airport Chaos Mounted
President Trump personally shot down a Senate proposal to fund the Transportation Security Administration during the DHS shutdown—leaving airport workers unpaid and travelers stuck in security lines.
Punchbowl News reported that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) presented Trump with a deal Sunday that would have funded every agency under the Department of Homeland Security, including TSA, except Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The proposal would have restored pay to airport security officers and eased the crunch at terminals nationwide.
“But Trump said no, according to multiple sources,” Punchbowl reported. Instead, the president is pushing Republicans to hold the line in the funding fight and demand passage of the SAVE America Act, the GOP’s voter ID and proof-of-citizenship bill, as part of any deal.
In public, Trump has blamed Democrats for the three-hour security lines and the ripple effects across major hubs. Over the weekend, he announced ICE agents would be deployed to airports to assist with staffing shortages as TSA officers continue working without pay. Critics say the new reporting undercuts that argument.
“Confirmed what I suspected in a post last night,” wrote Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of MeidasTouch. “Thune reached a deal with Dems to fund DHS except for ICE and Trump rejected it. DONALD TRUMP is to blame for airport chaos – not Democrats.” GOP strategist Reed Galen added: “Send him the bill. Make him veto it.”
The shutdown began after Democrats refused to fund DHS without reforms to ICE. Now, with security lines stretching and frustration rising, the fight has moved from Capitol Hill to airport terminals—and the question isn’t who can fix it. It’s who wants to.
Source: Raw Story
Editor: If you’re turning down a deal that pays airport security during spring break travel season, don’t be shocked when voters start checking the departures board for leadership.
Hours after threatening strikes over the Strait of Hormuz, Trump TACO’s/pauses—and Iran said there was nothing to pause.
‘He Folded’: Trump Mocked After Iran Denies Talks Behind Deadline Reversal
President Trump extended his own ultimatum to Iran after claiming “very good” talks were underway—only for Tehran to publicly deny that any negotiations took place.
On Saturday, Trump warned that if U.S. vessels were not allowed to pass freely through the Strait of Hormuz—a chokepoint that carries roughly 20% of the world’s oil trade—he would authorize strikes on Iranian power plants. He gave Tehran until Monday evening to comply.
But Monday morning brought a pivot. Trump said he had “very good” and “productive conversations” with Iranian officials and extended the deadline by five days.
There was just one problem. Iran’s foreign ministry said no such talks occurred, calling Trump’s remarks an attempt to influence energy markets and buy time. Prior reporting has indicated Tehran has largely ignored U.S. efforts to restart negotiations, undercutting the White House narrative of a breakthrough.
Critics pounced. “Iran called his bluff on the Strait and he folded,” wrote journalist Adam Cochran. He added: “As I suggested – it looks like they called his bluff on the ultimatum, and he is trying to save face before markets open.” Author Ali Abunimah was blunter: “Either Trump is backing down or he’s lying. Probably both.”
The Strait of Hormuz isn’t just a regional flashpoint—it’s a global economic pressure valve. Threaten it recklessly and markets shudder. Walk it back awkwardly and credibility takes a hit. Now the question isn’t just whether strikes are coming later this week. It’s whether anyone believes the deadline in the first place.
Source: Raw Story
Editor: When you issue an ultimatum to a country that controls a fifth of the world’s oil traffic, you’d better make sure someone on the other end of the line actually picked up the phone. #TACO
More than $1 billion in payments to women flowed through Epstein’s accounts, and yet key documents remain buried or blacked out.
Wyden Demands Epstein Bank Records as Redacted DEA Drug Probe Raises New Questions
Sen. Ron Wyden is pushing to unseal Jeffrey Epstein’s financial records, arguing the money trail could expose the full scope of a global sex trafficking and possible drug operation—and who helped bankroll it.
For years, Wyden has been digging where others haven’t—through Suspicious Activity Reports and banking transactions tied to Epstein’s web of shell companies and enablers. Financial institutions have already paid more than $365 million in civil settlements for failing to flag questionable activity linked to Epstein. But Wyden says that’s just scratching the surface.
According to Wyden, records he reviewed under the Biden administration showed over $1 billion in payments to women, along with transfers from wealthy figures including Leon Black, the former CEO of Apollo Global Management. Wyden is now pressing the Treasury Department to release additional Suspicious Activity Reports, known as SARs, that could map out the entire operation.
Then there’s the 69-page DEA report. Labeled “SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED,” it is nonetheless heavily redacted—entire pages blacked out. The document reveals that as early as 2015, a DEA task force suspected Epstein of trafficking club drugs including methamphetamine, ecstasy, and ketamine. The probe reportedly lasted five years. No charges followed. The case fizzled. No clear explanation. Because of course.
Wyden wants the unredacted report. So far, the Justice Department hasn’t obliged. He has also accused Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent of withholding key financial intelligence that could shed light on who else was involved in Epstein’s networks. The larger question isn’t whether the money tells a story—it’s why so many people seem intent on keeping the public from reading it.
Source: JK Journalist
Editor: When a billion dollars moves through a convicted sex trafficker’s accounts and entire federal reports are blacked out, “nothing to see here” isn’t going to cut it.
More on the #PedoFiles: (link) Bags of shredded documents at NY jail after Epstein’s death, officer tells FBI
An island of 11 million people is now living on a grid that can’t stay on.
Cuba Plunged Into Darkness Again as Power Grid Collapses for Third Time in March
Cuba’s entire national power grid failed Saturday night, marking the third nationwide blackout this month and deepening an energy crisis that has left millions scrambling to cope.
Authorities began restoring limited service Sunday, with about 72,000 customers in Havana — including five hospitals — regaining electricity through localized microsystems. That’s a fraction of the capital’s roughly 2 million residents. In provinces like Matanzas and Holguín, officials prioritized critical infrastructure while most neighborhoods remained dark.
The government said the collapse was triggered by the unexpected shutdown of a generating unit at the Nuevitas thermoelectric plant in Camagüey province. It offered few technical details, but the failure cascaded across the fragile system. The last nationwide outage occurred just days earlier — and took several days to repair.
Cuba’s grid has been deteriorating for years, battered by aging infrastructure and chronic fuel shortages. President Miguel Díaz-Canel says the island has not received foreign oil shipments for three months. Officials report shortages of diesel, fuel oil, gasoline, aviation fuel and liquefied petroleum gas. Cuba produces only about 40% of the fuel it needs to power its economy.
The human toll is mounting. Daily blackouts have slashed work hours, ruined appliances, and disrupted water access. “With the blackout and low voltage, my refrigerator broke — that was today,” said Suleydi Crespo, a 33-year-old mother of two. “If there’s no electricity tomorrow, we won’t be able to get water.” Another resident, Dagnay Alarcón, put it bluntly: “We have to try to survive. Get used to events, with or without electricity.”
The government blames U.S. sanctions and energy restrictions for worsening the crisis, while critics argue systemic mismanagement and overreliance on foreign oil have left the country vulnerable. Either way, the lights keep going out — and each time they do, the margin for recovery shrinks.
Source: NPR
Editor: When nationwide blackouts become a monthly routine, that’s not a glitch — it’s a warning sign flashing in the dark.