NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Monday, March 23, 2026

Episode Date: March 24, 2026

Deadly plane crash at New York’s LaGuardia Airport; Investigation into deadly crash at LaGuardia Airport; Trump sends ICE officers to speed up airport security lines; and more on tonight’s broadcast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tonight the deadly crash at New York's LaGuardia airport, two pilots killed and dozens injured after an Air Canada jet collided with a firefighting truck on the runway. Horrific video of the moment that jet plows right into the truck just after landing. A flight attendant found ejected hundreds of feet away still in her jump seat. The plane ending up suspended upright, passengers climbing off the wing and what may be an emission from the air traffic controller. Saying he messed up, why was the controller handling two jobs at once? Plus the controversial move, ICE agents deployed to airports across the country. Can they do anything to ease those long security lines? And the deadly plane crash in South America dozens now feared dead.

President Trump walking back his threat to strike Iran's power plants, citing new talks to end the war. But Iran says there are no negotiations. The stock markets surging on the news are new reporting on where it all stands. Hawaii flood catastrophe, neighborhoods swamped under feet of water, now the growing fear of mudslides. Ambulance arson attack, emergency vehicles set on fire, was the Jewish community targeted. The college freshman murdered. DHS says the man accused of killing her was in the country illegally, the outrage from her parents tonight. New details in the search for national.

Nancy Guthrie, the sheriff revealing for the first time the significance behind a date weeks before Nancy was abducted. It came from outer space, fireball streaking across California overnight, and the meteorite crashing right through a Texas home, leaving a crater in the floor. And there's good news tonight, the former Yale janitor trading in her mop for a medical degree, how her incredible story is inspiring others. Nightly news. Starts right now. This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yomas. And good evening.

We begin tonight with that deadly collision between an air Canada jet and a fire truck at New York's LaGuardia Airport, killing both pilots on board and now sparking a major investigation into what went wrong. This new video showing the moment look closely, the plane slams right into the fire

truck as it came in for a landing, sending debris flying everywhere. And you can see here in the light of the mangled wreckage of that plane. Investigators are now on the ground. The big question, did air traffic controllers make a fatal mistake? In a moment, you'll hear audio of one of the controllers saying, quote, he messed up. That crash impacting an air travel system already in disarray.

You can see the cancellations across these boards. And there are still those brutally long lines at airports. The White House today surging ice agents to airports. You can see them here at the terminals around the country, help the short staff TSA, but are they doing anything? And we're also tracking another deadly incident. This video is showing the moment a Colombian military plane went down, and tonight dozens are now for your dead.

We'll cover all of this tonight. We start with Sam Brock, live at LaGuardia for us. Tonight, an excruciating first look at the collision at LaGuardia Airport. You can see this Air Canada Express Regional Jet coming down the runway, then about two-thirds of the way down, plowing into a Port Authority rescue and firefighting vehicle slamming into it so hard, it cheered off the aircraft's nose, killing the two pilots. About 40 people were taken to the hospital, including Joe and his fiance Payton. We're jolted forward, but immediately maybe a second or two later, it felt like a crash.

These two pilots who unfortunately lost their lives did everything in their power to stop the plane and slow it down at the very last minute when they saw the fire truck there. He took this video moments after getting off the plane. see people climbing out on the wing. Air traffic control recordings revealed the truck had just requested permission to cross runway four, trying to make its way to another plane that had just declared an emergency because of an odor on board. Truck one company was already power request. A controller giving the go ahead. Then seconds later, this urgent plea. And later in the recording, this. Jack Cabot was sitting in seat 18A. The really scary moment was when the plane tipped from

being, it was nose in the ground on the original photos that you'll, you'll see. And then it kind of, like, the front of the plane fell off. And then that caused the weight imbalance to kind of shoot the plane up. And there was people exiting the plane as that was happening. The NTSB and FAA, both on the ground investigating. As two sources tell NBC News, the controller at LaGuardia was doing two positions at the time of the accident, managing aircraft in the rainy sky, as well as planes and vehicles on the ground, something that's common later at night with less traffic.

They've been able to at least verify that, the cockpit voice recorder was not damaged. LaGuardia reopening one of its two runways this afternoon, but the impact on air travel was massive. More than 700 flights canceled and a flight information board filled with red. As incredible survivor stories surface, like the two port authority officers driving the fire truck who were expected to make a full recovery and a flight attendant,

who was ejected from the plane and found in her jump seat about 300 feet away, according to her daughter. Incredible. Sam joins us now live from LaGuardia, and Sam, we can actually still see the plane right there behind you. It's going to be days until the airport is running at full capacity. Tom, we are watching right now as planes are taking off above this mangled aircraft, which is, as you can see, still on the tarmac. Now, according to the FAA, the runway behind me will not be reopening until this Friday, which means four to five more days of reduced capacity

at one of the most critical airports in the country. Tom, back to you. Sam Brock for us tonight, we want to continue our coverage now. We heard about that one air traffic controller doing two jobs last night, and we know there's a 3,000-person shortage of air traffic controllers in the U.S. Tom Costello joins us now live, and Tom, do we know if that shortage played any role in last night's crash? Well, it's an important question, because the FAA, as you said, has been struggling for years with the shortage of controllers nationwide, but the agency is trying to ramp up hiring right now. The Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, says, LaGuardia, is actually well-staffed. It has 34 of 37 positions filled. And while one controller was handling two jobs, as you heard, veteran controllers

tell us that's not necessarily bad and not unusual late at night on a Sunday. But of course, it was just over a year ago that the mid-air crash at Reagan National Airport was blamed in part on the fact that one controller was doing two jobs that night. Importantly, the FAA is not impacted by the partial government shutdown. Air traffic controllers are working and getting paid, Tom. Tom, I know you're also tracking another plane crash this time in Colombia, and there are devastating images of the aftermath. Yeah, that's right. This was a Colombian Air Force C-130 that crashed after takeoff in the southern Amazon region. 125 people were on board. The military there reports 71 have been rescued. Dozens, though still unaccounted for. At least one person is known to have died, Tom.

All right, Tom Costello for us. Tom, thank you. Now to those massive security lines at many airports across the country. and the president's new controversial push to help speed them up by sending in ice officers. Here's Jesse Kirsch. Tonight from Chicago's O'Hare to Atlanta and Houston, some seeing hours-long security lines. It's ridiculous. And tonight a new twist. The Trump administration sending hundreds of ice agents in hopes of speeding things up. They'll do great.

And if that's not enough, I'll bring in the national guard. Thousands of unpaid TSA officers have. called out sick. With the Department of Homeland Security now not fully funded for over a month, ICE agents sent to roughly a dozen airports so far. It makes you nervous and you just, you don't wonder, you know, why they're here and what they're doing. I appreciate them working. I feel bad for the TSA people not getting paid. A senior ICE official tells NBC News, agents can help check IDs and handle crowd control, but they're not trained on X-ray machines. In Atlanta, we saw ICE agents helping this woman into a wheel.

wheelchair. The only fix is if there's another group of federal employees that are certified to process passengers as the TSA is. I seeming to have little impact on the morning rush here. Typically, you want to give yourself about two hours at the airport in case you run into a line. But if you think this looks bad, these people are in the same line and it stretches to baggage claim. And that line doesn't end until it reaches the other end of the terminal and spills onto the sidewalk. And tonight, President Trump also saying he's asked ICE agents at airports to not wear masks. I'm a big believer that they should be able to wear masks when they go and hunt down, you know, murderous criminals and others. But for purposes of the airport, I've requested that they take off the mask.

Meanwhile, this woman was arrested by ICE Sunday at San Francisco's airport. DHS says she's from Guatemala, had a deportation order signed by a judge, and tried to flee as officers were deporting her. DHS saying the incident was unrelated to efforts to help TSA. All right, and Jesse joins us now live from Hartsfield. And Jesse, we see some good news there behind you. Those lines not really there at night. But the airport's GM told you there's only one solution to get those lines fully back to normal. And it might not happen soon.

Yeah, Tom, the GM says the only quick fix is finding a way to pay TSA because it can take months for those officers to be fully trained. And they are the only federal officers certified to screen the flying public. And those lines always much worse in the morning. Jesse, we thank you to the mid-east now, and President Trump calling off the threat to hit Iranian power plants, touting progress in direct talks with the Iranian regime. But Iran tonight says they aren't talking directly to the U.S. Here's Gabe Gutierrez.

Amid new attacks in the war against Iran, tonight President Trump is telling the Pentagon to postpone by five days more serious strikes against Iran's energy infrastructure after surprised negotiations. We have major points of agreement, I would say almost all points of agreement. A major change in tone after the president's Saturday threatened to obliterate Iran's power plants that the country did not reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. Now, we're doing a five-day period. We'll see how that goes. And if it goes well, we're going to end up with settling this. Otherwise, we'll just keep bombing our little hearts out.

But multiple Iranian officials publicly claim there have been. no direct talks. The president saying his special envoy, Steve Whitkoff and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are speaking with the Iranian regime. Though he would not say, with whom. I can't. Mr. President, I know you can't, I know you can't, I don't want him to be killed. The president today touting the progress on a trip to Memphis. I think there's a very good chance we're going to end up in a deal. Even stopping to tour Elvis's Graceland and signing a replica guitar. A temporary de-escalation sending the Dow up more than 600 points.

The price of crude oil plummeting to around $88 a barrel down for more than 100 overnight. While the president also says he expects any deal could mean the strait of Hormuz would be jointly controlled. By whom? Maybe me. Maybe me. Me and the Ayatollah, whoever the Ayatollah is, whoever the next Ayatollah, look, and there'll also be a form of a very serious form of regime.

Gabe, President Trump says there's progress in these talks, right? Oron says the talks aren't even happening. So what happens at the end of the five-day period? Well, Tom, the White House telling me late today, this is a fluid situation. Though we have no confirmation from the Iranians, the president says they've agreed to hand over their stockpiles of enriched uranium. He says that there's a deal. The U.S. will go and, quote, take it ourselves.

Tom. Gabe Gutierrez with that new reporting tonight, Gabe, thank you. In Hawaii, historic flooding has swamped entire communities and destroyed homes. The floodwater, some of the worst the state has seen in decades, and now there's a very real threat of mudslides. Steve Patterson is there for us. Tonight, Hawaii reeling, and now the fear of mudslides. Recovering from a days-long deluge, surging floodwaters, sweeping through neighborhoods across the Aloha State, and ripping away homes like this one, the living room turning into a rushing river.

This house, blown away by strong winds and falling into the wall of water below. We need to go. We need to go. Families finding everything they own underwater. Now communities are cleaning up with their new reality slowly settling in. We met Farron Mernayne and her family, who say they had to be rescued on surfboards. Their home unrecognizable. What is it like to see this home now? It's devastating.

This is our family home. And to see it like this, it's destroyed. As the cleanup continues, Shum Hirshay, the local government hasn't been doing enough. What happened to us was pretty inexcusable. No sirens, no nothing until like two in the morning. That was way too late. Officials hearsay, sirens were activated a little after 4 a.m. But residents say that was five hours too late.

But the community here is coming together, and the cleanup effort is massive. Neighbors, grabbing shovels, grabbing hoses, trying to return in communities like this to some sense of normalcy. Tom? Steve Patterson right there for us tonight. Steve, thank you. Now, it was a stunning video of a meteor burning across the sky last night as we learn more about another one crashing into a Texas home. Priscilla Thompson has more. This ball of fire streaking across the night sky.

The latest in a string of stellar sightings. seen here overnight in California. Whoa! And Space City living up to its name. Did y'all see that? With this one Saturday afternoon in Houston. It's going to be an explosion. The meteor hour and this will go out of the sky.

Traveling at 35,000 miles per hour, NASA says. It's where it came in at. Part of it crashing through this woman's roof, leaving a massive crater. It just boom, then I heard of boom. The meteor was about three feet in diameter, NASA says, and weighed about a ton before it broke apart in the sky, sending researchers and hunters alike to this park, searching for fragments.

Yeah, so I found two meteorites this morning. So how does it feel? I was very excited. You know, it's very exciting to find it and know that you're holding something that just two days ago was in space. Three galactic spectacles in the past week, experts say, what the fuck was that? This in Ohio.

The size of the meteor is pretty big. You can see the fireball more easily. And out of this world experience, that one need only look up to see. Priscilla Thompson, NBC News, Spring, Texas. And when we return in 60 seconds, did the suspect in Nancy Guthrie's abduction visitor house weeks before

what we're learning about the timeline tonight? We're back now with the latest on the search for Nancy Guthrie and a key date in question, January 11th, 20 days before the abduction. Here's Liz Kreutz. Tonight for the first time, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos

explaining the significance of January 11th, a date three weeks prior to Nancy Guthrie's abduction that neighbors say investigators have specifically been asking about during their search and that the Guthrie family also noted as a key day and a new statement shared over the weekend. The sheriff tells NBC News the date initially came from Google, the owner of Nest, which has been helping retrieve images from Nancy's doorbell camera. He says the company initially told investigators

that this surveillance image of the suspect were unlike in the others, he does not appear to be wearing a backpack was taken on that day. But Nana says Google later took that back and said they actually could not definitively pegged the photo to January 11th or any specific day. He says it's for that reason he has maintained that it's still unclear if the suspect visited Nancy's home prior to the kidnapping on February 1st. He may have and was still looking into that. I just can't say with any clarity that, oh yes, on this day, this time he was there.

NBC News has reached out to Google but not heard back. The FBI has also not commented on the timeline. It's now been 51 days since Nancy disappeared. In that new statement, Savannah and her family sang in part, we desperately asked this community for renewed attention to our mom's case. No detail is too small. It may be the key. We miss our mom with every breath and we cannot be in peace until she is home.

Liz Croyd's NBC News. And we are back in a moment with the college student murdered in Chicago. now her parents are outraged that her suspected killer was in this country illegally. Plus, the major recall from Trader Joe's 10 million pounds of a product recod will tell you what it is. We are back now with a big update in the fatal shooting of Loyola University student Sheridan Gorman. DHS officials say the suspect, Jose Medina, who was charged in her death, was in the U.S. illegally and had previously been arrested. Gorman's family said in part, quote, we are gravely disappointed.

by the policies and failures that allowed this individual to remain in a position to commit this crime. Scary video from outside London. Look at this. Ambulances set on fire in what the prime minister is calling an anti-Semitic attack. You can see the ambulances run by a Jewish community group all up in flames. Security footage shows three suspects, douse the vehicles, and then take off. Also tonight, a massive recall of popular frozen foods from Trader Joe's now expanding. A new FDA member shows nearly 10 million pounds of the vegetable fried rice may contain glass and are being pulled from shelves in dozens of states. All right, when we come back tonight, she used to be a janitor at Yale's hospital, and now she's about to work there as a doctor. The moment of pure joy

when she got the good news and the incredible story. That's next. Finally, there's good news tonight about a woman who was once a janitor at Yale, now going back, but this time as a doctor at its hospital. Inside this envelope, something Shea Taylor never thought was possible. A med student at Howard, now heading to the residency program at Yale. I would have never known starting at 18 as a janitor in the hospital that I would be sitting here as a doctor, going back to the same hospital that I was born at. That's right. Not only was Shea born at Yale Hospital, she worked there for 10 years as a janitor. I remember parking and wearing my brown janitor top.

She had to after high school, postponing college. Her family needed a paycheck. I was working full time and I was in college. My mom got sick when I was in my sophomore year of college. As she helped her mom through illness, she recalls the frustration at the lack of answers and representation. So she started down the path towards becoming a doctor. I knew that I wanted to make a change. They can look at me and they can see themselves and they can feel safe. Years of hard work leading to this incredible moment at the place where it all began. Congratulations.

You matched! I told you. Let's go. A homecoming for the ages. I would never have imagined where I come from that this was even possible. whatever that you can think or manifest that you want to do is possible. Dr. Shea Taylor, good luck at Yale. That's nightly news for this Monday. I'm Tom Yamas. Thanks so much for watching tonight.

And always we're here for you. Good night. I told you. Let's go. I told you.