Delays and cancellations continued to plague LaGuardia Airport Wednesday, nearly three days after the fatal crash between an Air Canada jet and a rescue truck.
More than 300 flights into and out of the airport were canceled on Wednesday and more than 250 flights were delayed, according to information compiled by website FlightAware.
Meanwhile, the FAA issued a ground delay for LaGuardia Wednesday, reporting an average four-hour delay for inbound flights.
The travel delays and cancellations come as investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board continue their probe into the crash that killed two members of the Air Canada flight crew Sunday night.
Pilot Antoine Forest and First Officer Mackenzie Gunther died after their jet — inbound from Montreal with 72 passengers and two other crew members aboard — smashed into an airport fire-rescue truck during a landing on Runway 4.
The impact left what NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy called “a tremendous amount of debris” on the runway that needed to be combed through by investigators.
An FAA spokesman confirmed Wednesday that Runway 4 remained closed. But in a statement late Wednesday, a spokesman for the Port Authority — which runs the Airport — said the wreckage of both vehicle had been removed, and the agency hopes to reopen the runway by Friday morning.
“With the removal of the plane and truck, we are reviewing the condition of the runway to ensure it meets FAA regulations and can be reopened safely,” the statement read. “We are working to have it operational no later than Friday morning.”
“The truck has been moved to a secure location as evidence for the continuing NTSB investigation,” the statement added.
While cancellations were scarce at nearby Newark and Kennedy airports on Wednesday, wait times for TSA security screenings at both airports remained uncertain as the ongoing partial government shutdown sparked long lines throughout the country.