Plane Crashes and Incidents

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FAA Audio Reveals Mysterious Object Before Aircraft Suffers Double Instrument Failure! #atc

Apr 8, 2026

On 22 April 2022, Flexjet flight LXJ359 departed from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) and was en route to Huntsville International Airport (HSV). While cruising at FL450, approximately 3 miles southwest of ESL near Kessel, West Virginia, the crew reported spotting an extremely bright unidentified object at FL550, around 10,000 feet above their aircraft. The sighting quickly drew attention because the object appeared unusually bright and at a very high altitude.

According to the FAA occurrence report, the bright object soon transformed into a string or line of lights. As LXJ359 passed underneath it, the lights suddenly went dark, yet the pilots reported they could still make out a visible silhouette in the sky. During this exact moment, the aircraft experienced a double Attitude Reference System failure along with a double autopilot failure, making the event even more mysterious and highly unusual from an aviation standpoint.

The sighting was not limited to one aircraft. Several other flights, including SWA368, SWA1393, and UAL46, also reported seeing the same object in the area. The event quickly became a topic of discussion among pilots on the Guard frequency (121.5 MHz), suggesting that multiple crews were actively observing it at the same time. Later, FAA documents and ATC recordings obtained by The Black Vault confirmed that the report was officially logged, making it one of the more widely discussed aviation UFO incidents of 2022.

Miracle in the sky as a B-52 crew out of Minot Air Force base helps the lost pilot over Alaska, with no instrument rating, and was only dependent on VOR navigation in 2013.

Apr 9, 2026
A B-52 crew from Minot Air Force Base embarked on a routine training mission, but what happened next turned their flight into a life-saving mission. Midway through their 14-hour endurance flight, the crew—call sign HAIL 14—received a distress call from Anchorage Air Traffic Control. A Cessna 172pilot was lost in the vast, mountainous terrain of northern Alaska, surrounded by thick overcast with no clear path to safety.

Without hesitation, the crew sprang into action. Using their extensive training and quick thinking, they coordinated with Minot’s HAIL 13 to establish contact with the struggling pilot. Despite flying thousands of feet above, with no visual confirmation, the B-52 crew used advanced navigation techniques, real-time coordination, and even newly issued iPads to assist the lost aircraft in finding its way.

The pilot, who was not instrument-rated, was relying on VOR navigation, a skill the B-52 team expertly guided him through. As visibility worsened and radar signals faded into ground clutter, HAIL 13 worked to brighten the airfield lights at Calhoun Memorial Airport in Tanana, Alaska—offering the lost pilot a beacon of hope.

This was more than just a successful rescue—it was a testament to the skill, training, and dedication of the U.S. Air Force aviators. As Capt. Justin George put it, "It was pretty cool to actually help somebody out."

The lost Cessna, later identified as being registered to the Catholic Bishop of Northern Alaska, was safely guided to the runway, ensuring that this emergency did not end in tragedy, as so many similar situations have.

This extraordinary act of heroism highlights the selfless service of the men and women of the Air Force, always ready to step in when lives are at stake. Watch the full story unfold in this incredible real-life rescue mission.

 

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Air Canada CRJ collides with fire fighting truck on landing in New York

The NTSB's final report on Air Canada CRJ colliding with a firefighting truck on landing in New York

Air Canada CRJ collides with fire fighting truck on landing in New York | Flightradar24 Blog

An Air Canada CRJ-900 flight AC8646 collided with a fire fighting truck on landing in New York at La Guardia Airport.

www.flightradar24.com

Ian Petchen Petchenik Updated: April 23, 2026

• Air Canada Express CRJ-900 was landing at LaGuardia
• The aircraft collided with an Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting vehicle on the runway
• Numerous injuries reported, both pilots dead

An Air Canada Express (operated by Jazz Aviation) CRJ-900 collided with an Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting vehicle while landing at New York’s La Guardia Airport (LGA) late Sunday, 22 March. Flight AC8646 from Montreal landed on Runway 4 and was rolling down the runway when it struck the ARFF apparatus as it crossed the runway.

The emergency vehicle reportedly was responding to a United aircraft that had reported fumes onboard.

 

[Possibility of Being]

The NTSB's final report on Air Canada CRJ colliding with a firefighting truck on landing in New York

In one month? That would be the fastest investigation ever.

The Flightradar article links to the preliminary report, PDF here, 15 pp. The last para o the article reads:

As with all preliminary reports, the NTSB does not make a finding of probable cause for the accident, that will be a part of the final report issued in approximately 12 months time.

Main finds from the preliminary report:

• There were two controllers in the LGA tower the night of the crash, but one controller was doing both jobs while the other controller was coordinating a different emergency; two controllers are standard for this shift/time. Both were qualified with many years of experience.
• Runway lights designed to warn ground vehicles were functioning that night, no mention of why the firetruck did not stop for the lights though the driver heard a controller calling to stop yet was not sure to whom it was directed.
• Because the ground vehicles were not equipped with transponders, the ASDE-X system (Airport Surface Detection Equipment used by ATC) could not uniquely identify each of the seven responding vehicles or reliably determine their positions, or tracks. As a result, the system was unable to correlate the track of the airplane with the track of Truck 1 (engaged in the collision, or any of the other vehicles in the group) and did not predict a potential conflict with the landing airplane
• The airplane’s main landing gear touched down about 1,450 ft (~440 m) from taxiway D at a groundspeed of 128 kts (237 km/h); control was transferred from the first officer to the captain. At that time, the firetruck had crossed the hold line at a speed of about 24 mph (38 km/h).
• Both, the driver of the firetruck and the pilot attempted to swerve to avoid the collision seconds before impact.
• At the time of the collision, the truck was traveling at 30 m/h (48 km/h) and the plane's last recorded speed was 104 m/h (167 km/h)

Both pilots died in the crash. 39 passengers and crew members were transported to local hospitals with 6 serious injuries.

 

[Beau]

There were two controllers in the LGA tower the night of the crash, but one controller was doing both jobs while the other controller was coordinating a different emergency; two controllers are standard for this shift/time. Both were qualified with many years of experience.

Most comments I've seen are critical of the decision to pare down ATC at LaGuardia to 2 people at mid-shift. Just far too busy of an airport to do that, which this accident proves. Having one person managing both ground and air at the same time almost certainly led to the loss of situational awareness which then led to ATC approving the emergency crews to cross the runway during the plane's landing. The driver of the fire truck is still at fault for not seeing the stop lights on the runway, not looking to check if the runway was clear, and not stopping when ATC told them to stop. But management of ATC at LGA should still be criticized. They were running a skeleton crew.