Air Canada could owe LaGuardia plane crash survivors up to nearly $300K each
An international agreement holds airlines liable for death or bodily injury in a plane crash.
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.
Aviation law experts say Air Canada passengers injured in the fatal collision at the LaGuardia Airport on Sunday have various legal options.
Gabor Lukacs, a passenger rights advocate, says Air Canada could be on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars per passenger.
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He says an international agreement that standardizes compensation holds airlines liable for death or bodily injury.
Lukacs says that under the 1999 Montreal Convention, injured passengers could each be compensated up to nearly $300,000.
The Air Canada passengers have two years to file lawsuits under the convention.
Kevin Durkin, a U.S. aviation lawyer, says they could also sue the American aviation authority and local port authority.
The collision between the Air Canada jet and a fire truck killed both pilots and sent more than 40 people to hospital.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2026.