Dozens of flights to and from Boston’s Logan International Airport were cancelled this morning due to a deadly plane crash at LaGuardia Airport in New York, leaving passengers scrambling to find alternative travel options.
The overnight collision between a plane landing at LaGuardia and an emergency vehicle on the runway killed the plane’s pilot and co-pilot and injured more than a dozen people. Images from the scene showed the plane’s nose tilted upward with debris dangling from the mangled cockpit, as the damaged emergency vehicle rested on its side nearby.
The incident prompted aviation officials to close LaGuardia early Monday as investigators combed the scene. As of 11 a.m., 28 flights between Logan and the New York hub were cancelled as a result of the closure, according to FlightAware.
At Boston’s South Station this morning, platforms were crowded with travelers lugging large suitcases, many of them catching last-minute trains to New York. Among them was Boston-based literary agent Joy Tutela, who was headed to New York to attend a client’s poetry reading.
“I noticed that there had been the terrible tragedy this morning,” she told GBH News. “But it took a few hours for Delta to finally acknowledge that the flight was going to be cancelled. However, in the meantime, I made the reservation for Amtrak, knowing that I had to be in New York.”
Tutela said she was “pleasantly surprised” by how easily she was able to book her train and quickly headed to South Station after securing the reservation. She added that she’s been communicating with an AI chatbot at Delta about getting a refund for her flight but hasn’t been able to confirm that she will receive one.
Several other travelers at South Station told GBH News they faced similar situations this morning, quickly opting for rail travel after finding out their flights to New York were cancelled.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it expected all flights to and from LaGuardia to remain grounded until at least 2 p.m. Monday. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are leading the investigation into the crash.
