10 players who will decide who wins March Madness: Azzi Fudd leads way

Star players can make or break March Madness.

The2026 Women's NCAA Tournamentis down to the Sweet 16 and four victories is all that separates one team from hoisting the national championship trophy on Sunday, April 5. To win out, teams will rely on their best players to lead the charge.

Will Azzi Fudd lead the UConn Huskies to back-to-back titles for the first time since the program's four-peat from 2013-16? Will No. 1 UCLA finally get over the hump and win its first title? Can No. 10 Virginia continue to shock the world?

USA TODAY Sports has followed along with every upset, buzzer-beater and matchup from the 2026 Women's NCAA Tournament. Here are the 10 players who will ultimately decide who wins March Madness, split up by each regional bracket.

The Alabama bench celebrate after a big three-point shot by Alabama Crimson Tide guard Karly Weathers (22) in the fourth quarter against Louisville during the 2026 NCAA Women's March Madness Second Round basketball at the KFC Yum Center In Louisville, Ky. Weathers finished with 13 points. March 23, 2026.

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See women's March Madness 2026, from mascots and fans to celebrities

The Alabama bench celebrate after a big three-point shot by Alabama Crimson Tide guard Karly Weathers (22) in the fourth quarter against Louisville during the2026 NCAA Women's March MadnessSecond Round basketball at the KFC Yum Center In Louisville, Ky. Weathers finished with 13 points. March 23, 2026.

Fort Worth 1 bracket

UConn guard Azzi Fudd

UConn has an embarrassment of riches, including senior guard Azzi Fudd. She was limited to nine points in UConn's first-round win over No. 16 UTSA, but got out of her "slump" in the Huskies' second-round rout of No. 9 Syracuse. She tied her career-high in points (34) and 3-pointers (8) after trimming her nails at the advice of head coach Geno Auriemma. (You read that right.) He told her to "file your nails down and be nicer to the ball and it will be nicer to you,'" Fuddrecalled. "And I did. I guess it worked."

Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes

The Commodores are back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2009, thanks in no small part to Mikayla Blakes. The sophomore guard recorded her second career double-double in No. 2 Vanderbilt's 75-57 win over No. 7 Illinois and was one assist short of a triple-double with 25 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. With the performance, Blakes (891 points) passed Aari McDonald (890) to become the NCAA's all-time sophomore leading scorer. Head coach Shea Ralph summed it up best: "We are witnessing a generational player. ... She's the nicest kid on the planet and will come out on the court and absolutely rip your heart out of your chest in a bunch of different ways, and you'll still want to give her a hug after."

Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo

What can't Hannah Hidalgo do? The junior guard led No. 6 Notre Dame to an 83-73 upset win over No. 3 Ohio State to punch the Fighting Irish's ticket to the Sweet 16 for the fifth consecutive season. Hidalgo finished two steals short of a triple-double with 26 points, a career-high 13 rebounds and eight steals. Hidalgo has scored 20 or more points in nine straight games. With the performance, Hidalgo passed Arike Ogunbowale (849) for the Notre Dame single-season scoring record with 856 points and counting. She also holds the single-season records for steals (189) and points per game (25.2).

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UCLA center Lauren Betts

UCLA women's basketballreached the 30-win mark in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history. The Bruins have another milestone in mind —  the program's first national tile. Lauren Betts is leading the charge with a career-best performance in UCLA's second-round win over No. 8 Oklahoma State to punch the Bruins' ticket to the Sweet 16 for the fourth season in a row. Betts recorded a career-high 35 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the win. She's averaging 28.5 points in two games, more than 10 points over her season average.

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LSU guard Flau'jae Johnson

Senior guard Flau'jae Johnson has reached the Elite Eight in her first three seasons under Kim Mulkey, with the Tigers going all the way and winning a national championship in 2023. Johnson's one win away from making the Elite Eight again. She's upped her season scoring average to 22 points per game through the first two rounds and left the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as the winningest player at home in LSU Basketball history, men's or women's, with 69 wins and only four losses.

Fort Worth 3 bracket

Texas forward Madison Booker

Madison Booker entered March Madness on a mission. Head coach Vic Schaefer challenged Booker to take on a bigger role offensively and pushed her to hunt her shot. The aggressive approach has paid instant dividends. Booker scored a career-high 40 points in Texas' 100-58 win over No. 8 Oregon in the second round. She rounded out her stat line with eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and no turnovers, which she was especially proud of. Booker's 40 points set a Texas single-game NCAA Tournament record. Watch out.

Michigan guard Syla Swords

Michigan is set to make its third Sweet 16 appearance in program history. Sophomore guard Syla Swords will be key if the Wolverines want to advance to the Elite Eight for the second time ever. Swords is scoring above her season average, with an average of 19.5 points per game. She surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career following her 26-point performance against No. 7 NC State, where she hit 4-of-10 3-pointers. Swords' 80 made 3-pointers this season leads the team.

Sacramento 4 bracket

South Carolina forward Joyce Edwards

Joyce Edwards has been all the difference for the Gamecocks. The sophomore seamlessly slid into the starting lineup this season and has led the team in scoring, a trend she's continued into March Madness. Edwards is averaging a near double-double in the tournament, with an average of 25 points and nine rebounds across two games.

Virginia guard Kymora Johnson

Virginia emerged as a Cinderella team as the lone double-digit seed remaining after the Cavaliers became the first First Four team to advance to the Sweet 16. Kymora Johnson stepped up when her team needed her most on Monday and scored 14 of her 28 points in overtime to securea double-overtime upset over No. 2 Iowa, 83-75. It marked the Cavaliers' second consecutive overtime thriller. Johnson knocked down five 3-pointers to tie for the second most by a Cavalier in an NCAA Tournament game in the team's 82-73 overtime upset of No. 7 Georgia.

TCU guard Olivia Miles

TCU's offense starts and ends with Olivia Miles. She recorded 12 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and a program-record 14 assists inTCU's 86-40 blowout win over No. 14 UC San Diegoin the first round. She finished two assists short of another triple-double in the Horned Frogs' comeback, overtime win over Washington with 18 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Miles gets her teammates going and she must do it early and often in the Sweet 16. TCU cannot afford another slow start against a red-hot Virginia team.

Reach USA TODAY National Women's Sports Reporter Cydney Henderson at chenderson@gannett.com and follow her on X at@CydHenderson.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Who wins March Madness? These 10 players will be the deciders

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10 players who will decide who wins March Madness: Azzi Fudd leads way

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As border dynamics change, priest keeps ministering to migrants and deportees

Over the past five years at theU.S.-Mexico border, the Rev. Brian Strassburger has gone from ministering to throngs of asylum-seekers in overcrowded shelters tocelebrating Mass with detainedand deported migrants.

Border Priest Migrants

But while border crossings have drastically shrunk under President Donald Trump's administration, theJesuit priestsaid his mission remains centered on embodying the Christian message "that God is accompanying you on your journey.

"And the journey, whether it's northbound or southbound, involves a lot of suffering," Strassburger added. "We have a faith that speaks to us amid that suffering. We have a God who says, 'I want to be one of you.'"

Based in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, Strassburger heads the Del Camino Jesuit Border Ministries, a trio of Jesuits who have been providing Mass and other sacraments tomigrants on both sidesof the U.S.-Mexican border since 2021.

Border crossings plummet under Trump

Back then, thousands of migrants crammed into bare-bones shelters daily before and after crossing the border in record numbers.

Nearly 2.5 million people crossed the border illegally or came legally through a system for thoseseeking humanitarian protectionsfrom May 2023, when Joe Biden's administrationended COVID-19 restrictionson asylum, until January 2025, when Trump declared anational emergency at the borderat the start of his second term.

Strassburger celebrated Mass in packed shelters in McAllen, Texas, and just across the Rio Grande in Reynosa, Mexico, where many thousands slept in tents in makeshift shelters and hundreds more waited outside for a chance to cross into the United States even as the Biden administration started to impose restrictions.

He was there, at a shelter run by Catholic nuns, the day after the Trump administration canceled allborder appointmentswould-be asylum-seekers had made through an app to enter the United States.

After celebrating Mass, he asked people how they were managing the news. Most said they were feeling devastated, terrified and deceived. But one woman raised her hand and said, in Spanish, "The last thing we lose is hope."

"Sandra, she doesn't place her hope in a smartphone app or in a presidential administration or in a government. She puts her hope in the Lord, and that is a hope that doesn't disappoint, even in the midst of the despairing moments of life," Strassburger recalled. "If Sandra can say that, in that day and in that moment, how can I lose hope in my own ministry here on the border?"

One priest's journey to ministry on the border

The 41-year-old pastor's journey to the priesthood and border ministry was one of grace more than planning, Strassburger said.

Raised in Colorado by Catholic parents, he dreamed of becoming a dad, math teacher and basketball coach in a Jesuit high school like the one he attended. It was after college, while volunteering withthe Augustinians— among whom he met the futurePope Leo XIV— that he first considered a religious vocation, especially when ministering to AIDS victims at a hospice in South Africa.

"I'd always thought a religious vocation or a priesthood was like this cross that you bear because God tells you you have to. He's like, 'Sorry, Brian, you're one of those ones who has to be a priest.' And you're like, 'OK, God,'" Strassburger said. "I started to think, what if the life of priesthood isn't this great burden, but actually the way for me to be my best self?"

In 2011, he entered the Jesuit novitiate and five years later, despite knowing no Spanish, he was sent to Nicaragua for more than two years. On his return, newly bilingual, he spent a summer at theKino Border Initiativein the two Nogales — the cities in Arizona and Mexico just across the fence.

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That's where he found his mission, the ideal place for his ability to navigate a bilingual context and serve as a bridge. After ordination, his superior asked him to establish a Jesuit presence in the Rio Grande Valley, literally at the country's margins, the places wherePope Francishad urged the church to go.

"I couldn't have said yes fast enough," Strassburger said, adding that the local bishop then assigned him and another Jesuit a simple mission. "He said, 'Read the reality and respond to it.' And that's what we've been trying to do since then. And we identified very quickly the need for pastoral accompaniment of the migrant population."

A new mission at the border for those detained and deported

With theongoing immigration crackdown, Strassburger has been focusing on celebrating regular Masses at two large Texas detention centers as well as in shelters in Mexico.

One of them, in Matamoros, is run by Mexican authorities for people who've been deported — some of them after decades in the United States, like one woman with six children, all U.S. citizens, ages 19 to 6. She was arrested after 29 years in the country, right before Christmas at an immigration court check-in.

"She's like, 'I just keep thinking, was it a mistake for me to even try to regularize my status? Like, if I had not gone to court that day, would I be celebrating Christmas with my six kids?'" Strassburger recalled. "That's the kind of thing we encounter every day."

Five years ago, William Cuellar was deported back to his native Mexico, which he left when he was 4. He's now also staying in a shelter in Matamoros, which abuts Brownsville, Texas, to facilitate visits from his mother and adult children who remain in the U.S.

He started attending Mass with Strassburger six months ago and sees him as a friend more than a priest.

"When I met Father Brian, I was like, 'Cool, I can communicate in English with someone else,'" Cuellar said. "He provides me with the time to hear me out."

In addition to sacraments such as Mass, confession and baptisms, it's that consoling, listening presence from Strassburger and the other Jesuits that helps migrants the most, added Sister Carmen Ramírez, who runs the Casa del Migrante shelter in Reynosa with another Catholic nun.

"They bring hope to people," Ramírez said. "These men, they bring the Gospel, a glance of empathy, of compassion."

The shelter now hosts about two dozen people mostly from Honduras and Mexico. When the Jesuits visit twice a week, another 50 families come for Mass and activities focused on mothers and children, most of whom are from Haiti.

"Father Brian is a man who knows how to relate to children. I imagine Jesus when I see them running to hug him," Ramírez said. "His apostolate is of listening, of sitting down to listen, looking at people straight in the face, saying that there is a God who loves them through this encounter."

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP'scollaborationwith The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

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As border dynamics change, priest keeps ministering to migrants and deportees

Over the past five years at theU.S.-Mexico border, the Rev. Brian Strassburger has gone from ministering to throngs of as...

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Giants stoked for Tony Vitello experiment to begin: 'Ready or not, here we come'

SAN FRANCISCO — Three-timeNew York Yankees MVP Aaron Judgewill be hanging in right field. Home run king Barry Bonds will be sharing his thoughts for the world to hear. Future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols will be on a microphone. Future Hall of Famers Dusty Baker, Bruce Bochy and Buster Posey will be sitting together in theSan Francisco Giantsexecutive suite.

But the most high-powered microscope will be zeroed in on the 47-year-old dude who never played a professional baseball game, never managed a professional baseball game, and has never even attended an opening day game.

Tony Vitello will make baseball history by becoming the first person to ever manage a major-league game directly out of college with zero professional experience.

The San Francisco Giants' new manager will be baseball's guinea pig for the 2026 season, which could either open the floodgates for collegiate coaches to fill MLB vacancies – or close the door for any organization to ever consider such an idea again.

"Well," Vitello says, "I'm ready.

"I've got no other choice at this point, right?''

Vitello, who coached atTennessee, winning the 2024 national championship, looks into your eyes and won't lie to you. He's going to be nervous. He's used to big games being against LSU on Friday nights on the SEC Network. Now, he's facing baseball's most historic franchise, with 27 World Series championships and Hall of Fame alumni from Ruth to Gehrig to DiMaggio to Berra to Mantle to Jeter to Judge.

So, you can imagine the national uproar with one lineup malfunction, a wrong pinch-hitting move, a bullpen blunder or a slip-up in a mid-game interview?

There will be millions of keyboard warriors waiting to pounce.

"I'll be ready," Vitello says. "People critique, and when your pay for your ticket, that's what you get to do. Or even if you're in our dugout, you're allowed to have second thoughts on anything. But the one thing I'll say is any decision we make is going to be a group effort, and there will be no stone left unturned prior to doing it.

"Whatever it is we choose to do, we're going full steam ahead, and I take responsibility from this point on. Ultimately, I have the final say, so that's on me, but I love that I can rely on my guys."

'We couldn't be happier'

The Giants front office, who believed they'd rather have an unproven collegiate coach than hiring back Bochy, bringing in former Cubs manager Joe Maddon or David Ross, or giving recently fired Brandon Hyde or Davey Martinez another shot, know they've opened themselves up for ridicule.

They are paying more for a manager than any team in history, with $3.5 million paid directly to Vitello, $3 million to Tennessee for the buyout, and $4 million to Bob Melvin, who was fired.

Yet, instead of being anxious about their decision, the Giants left their Scottsdale, Arizona spring training complex convinced more than ever that they made the right move.

"I've been fortunate to be around some great managers," Giants GM Zack Minasian tells USA TODAY Sports, "from Johnny Oates to Buck Showalter to Melvin to Bobby Valentine to Boch. But watching Tony on the field during drills this spring is something different than I've ever seen. He makes it a lot of fun for the players. He just brings so much energy each and every day, and it's something intentional.

"We want people excited walking into the doors in the clubhouse every day and I feel like so many people are and in a great frame of mind. I really think our players, our staff, are having fun. It's fun to be around.

"Really, we couldn't be happier."

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There was so much outside noise about how the players may respond to a manager with zero experience, but the Giants haven't had internal complaints.

"It's been an extremely seamless transition," Minasian says. "He's been really able to build relationships quickly. The one thing I wasn't expecting is just how well connected he is to so many different people in professional baseball. You hear a lot, obviously, about him being the first manager to make the jump. And you assume that maybe they don't have the contacts that maybe someone else who had been in professional baseball for a long time would have. And he has just a huge address book that's full of people who have been in professional baseball a long time, from executives to agents to players.

"When we're having conversations about different possibilities, we've got a pretty good way to go and get information to help us."

There wasn't a time a player publicly questioned anything Vitello tried, whether it was having the entire team involved in infield drills, having piercing noise blaring over the stadium loudspeakers during pop-ups to resemble a hostile crowd crowd, or watching Vitello taking grounders as if he's one of the boys.

"It's definitely different," Giants veteran backup catcher Eric Haase says. "Overall, he's really brought in good energy, unmatched energy. He also has a very acute attention to detail. He's got his hands in everything, but he's given us a lot of freedom to have the clubhouse be our clubhouse. The guys have really gravitated towards Tony, and I'm excited to see what it looks like during the year."

Here are some of the more interesting foods and beverages available this season at major-league stadiums: The "Take Me Out to the Ballgame Milkshake" at Diamondbacks home games is a salted caramel shake with whipped cream, peanut butter sandwich cookies, Kit Kat bars and Cracker Jack.

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See new food bites at the ballpark this season

Here are some of the more interesting foods and beverages available this season atmajor-leaguestadiums: The "Take Me Out to the Ballgame Milkshake" at Diamondbacks home games is a salted caramel shake with whipped cream, peanut butter sandwich cookies, Kit Kat bars and Cracker Jack.

'Ready or not, here we come'

It may have only been just spring training, a time where stats and standings are forgotten by the time the team boards the plane home, but for Vitello, it was a chance to establish the culture of winning.

The Giants went 19-9, finishing just one-half game behind the two-time World Series champion Dodgers (20-9), producing the highest batting average in the Cactus League with the lowest ERA.

"Tony brings a lot of passion," Giants ace Logan Webb says, "and I think he wants us to play with passion. I'm not saying he wants us to play like a college baseball team, but he wants us to play hard and be aggressive."

And yes, he badly wants to win, finally returning the Giants back to the postseason for the first time since 2021, failing to even produce a winning record.

"There's a competitive nature with Tony that you just can't turn off," Minasian says, "in a good way. And so if we're out there playing a game, whether it's spring training or the regular season, he wants to win the game. There's an intensity and he's driven to succeed, no matter what time of year it is."

There will be growing pains, Vitello says. But the best managers learn from their mistakes and aren't afraid to embrace them either.

He's already been cautioned about the etiquette of being a major league manager, which he still may slip up at times this year.

"I assume I'm not going to be allowed to carry my bag on the plane," Vitello says, "even though I'm the one that packed it. I've kind of been warned of that by like seven people."

And on this Wednesday evening in San Francisco, the Vitello era begins.

"I know things will be completely different from spring training as far as the pace and the circumstances,'' Vitello says. "The crowds will be bigger. The stadiums will be bigger. But you know, I think the baseball is going to be the same.

"So, here we go. Ready or not, here we come."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Giants' Tony Vitello era begins with manager's Opening Day vs. Yankees

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Giants stoked for Tony Vitello experiment to begin: 'Ready or not, here we come'

SAN FRANCISCO — Three-timeNew York Yankees MVP Aaron Judgewill be hanging in right field. Home run king Barry Bonds will ...

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Why did Tony Vitello leave Tennessee? Giants manager makes MLB debut

TheSan Francisco Giantsare set to make their season debut in a home opening series against the New York Yankees beginning Wednesday, March 25.

It's also thedebut for Giants manager Tony Vitello, who's getting his first crack at the major leagues after a successful collegiate baseball coaching career for the Tennessee Volunteers.

Vitellosigned a three-year contract with the Giantson Oct. 22, which is reportedly going to pay him $3.5 million annually, according to The SF Standard.

He's the first collegiate coach to make the jump straight to the majors as a manager. It's an honor he doesn't take lightly, especially as he lives out a dream to be a MLB manager.

"As a coach, I was just trying to make my way," Vitello said during an October news conference. "I got thrust into a position at a young age that I probably didn't even deserve, so I was just trying to do a good job, and fortunately it helped get me to the next spot and the next spot and the next spot, and eventually this did become a dream, where I just decided if it was, if I was blessed enough to receive an opportunity, this is something I wanted to do before I was done coaching, in general."

MLB spring training 2026: Sunshine, good vibes in Arizona and Florida

He added: "It is a dream come true, but it's a very recent dream. It wasn't one I had for a while and, as much as I'd like to sit up here and promise things and pound my fist on the desk, really all I want to do is a good job."

That's all that San Francisco fans want too. His track record says he will. Everyone in orange and black is hoping that success will translate. Here's a look at his résumé:

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More MLB:Bold predictions for San Francisco Giants' 2026 season

Did Vitello win a national championship at Tennessee?

Vitello had a successful seven-year stint at Tennessee that spanned from 2018 to 2025.

In that span, he coached the Vols to two SEC regular-season titles, two SEC Tournament titles and a 2024 national title, being crowned 2024 NCAA Tournament champions. He's appeared in three College World Series, in 2021, 2023 and winning 2024.

Tony Vitello record at Tennessee

Vitello was a bona fide winner at Tennessee. He became the fastest coach in UT baseball history to reach the 300-win mark.

He left the university with an overall record of 341-131 (.722).

MLB players who played for Tony Vitello

Vitello has coached several of players atTennessee that went on to play MLB, including Christian Moore, Garrett Crochet, Chase Silseth, Ben Joyce, Andre Lipcius, Trey Lipscomb, Jordan Beck, Seth Halvorsen, Chase Dollander and current Giants pitcher Blade Tidwell.

Did Drew Gilbert play for Tony Vitello

Also included in that list is Drew Gilbert, who currently plays outfield for the Giants. He played Vitello at Tennessee from 2020 to 2022.

Did Tony Vitello play in MLB

Vitello has no MLB playing experience. However, he hopes that isn't a problem when coaching in the pros.

"Dues have come in a different way," Vitello said in reference to the fact that he never played in the majors. "Hopefully respect will be earned in different ways, and the only way I know how to do that is through hard work."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Tony Vitello set for MLB debut as manager in Giants vs Yankees

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Why did Tony Vitello leave Tennessee? Giants manager makes MLB debut

TheSan Francisco Giantsare set to make their season debut in a home opening series against the New York Yankees beginning...

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A timeline of the deadly collision at LaGuardia Airport

NEW YORK (AP) — It took less than a minute for a routine landing to spiral into a deadly crash Sunday at New York's LaGuardia Airport. But the collision between an Air Canada flight and a fire truck crossing the runway was the culmination of a series of events that began much earlier.

The Associated Press created this timeline based on a review of air traffic control recordings and information from the Federal Aviation Administration, publicly available flight tracking data and the National Transportation Safety Board, including information it obtained from the jet's cockpit voice recorder.

A late departure from Montreal

10:12 p.m.: Air Canada Express Flight 8646, operated by Jazz Aviation, leaves Montréal–Trudeau International Airport, two hours and 13 minutes late. By the time the aircraft reaches New York, it is part of an influx of late-arriving flights, including some waiting extended periods for a gate.

Issues on the ground at LaGuardia

11:16:42 p.m.: A United aircraft, Flight 2384, aborts takeoff for a second time because of an anti-ice warning light in the cockpit.

11:20:48 p.m.: "We have an odor on the plane as well here at this time," the United pilot reports. "We are going to be going back to the gate, request fire as well," using shorthand for the airport's fire rescue team.

11:21:12 p.m.: Another pilot chimes in: "If that's a sewer smell … we smelled that too going around the terminal there."

11:22:24 p.m.: A controller asks the United pilot if it is a smoke odor. He responds: "No, it was a weird odor. I don't know exactly how to describe it," and says he can't get ahold of anyone to obtain a gate assignment.

11:24:49 p.m.: The controller confirms there is no gate available. He asks the pilot, "Do you still need us to send fire there?" The pilot says yes, citing the odor.

11:27:44 p.m.: United 2384's pilot tells the controller he doesn't plan on evacuating the plane. The controller instructs the pilot to move to another taxiway.

11:29:54 p.m.: United 2384 makes a wrong turn and ends up in a different part of the taxiway, but the controller doesn't sound concerned. "You can just stay over there … and we'll have the guys go over there," he says.

11:31:41 p.m.: United 2384 declares an emergency. The pilot says: "The flight attendants in the back are feeling ill because of the odor. We will need to go into any available gate at this time."

11:31:59 p.m.: The controller asks again if there's an available gate, telling the person he's speaking with, "now they're declaring an emergency. They want to get out."

11:33:39 p.m.: The controller tells United 2384 there is still no open gate, but fire trucks are headed over with a stair truck if they want to evacuate. "Let me know if you do," he says.

Flight 8646 is cleared to land

11:34:18 p.m.: In a routine step near the end of a flight, the air traffic controller handling approaches into LaGuardia instructs the pilots of Air Canada Express Flight 8646 pilots to contact the airport's control tower, which will guide them the rest of the way.

11:35:08 p.m.: Flight 8646 is cleared to land on Runway 4/22.

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Fire truck is cleared to cross

11:36:45 p.m.: At the airport, a controller asks: "Is there a vehicle that needed to cross the runway?"

11:37:00 p.m.: "Truck 1 and company, LaGuardia Tower, requesting to cross 4 at Delta," the firefighter says, meaning he is requesting clearance to use Taxiway D to cross Runway 4 — the same runway where Flight 8646 is about to land.

11:37:05 p.m.: "Truck 1 and company cross 4 at Delta," the controller says, authorizing the truck and other emergency vehicles to cross Runway 4. Simultaneously, on a different frequency, the pilot on the odor-stricken United flight reports that his plane has finally been cleared to go to a gate.

11:37:08 p.m.: "Truck 1 and company crossing 4 at Delta," a firefighter in Truck 1 repeats, confirming that the controller has cleared the vehicle to cross.

11:37:11 p.m.: An electronic call out in Flight 8646's cockpit indicates the plane is 50 feet above the ground.

11:37:12 p.m.: A controller tells the pilot of an outbound Frontier Airlines flight to stop on a taxiway.

Flight 8646 lands and collides with the fire truck

11:37:15 p.m.: "Sorry, Truck 1," a controller says as Flight 8646 bears down on Runway 4/22.

11:37:16 p.m.: A controller then frantically tells the fire crew: "Stop. Stop Stop. Stop. Truck 1. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop."

11:37:17 p.m.: Flight 8646's cockpit voice recorder captures a sound that investigators say is consistent with the plane's landing gear touching down..

11:37:19 p.m.: Flight 8646's first officer, who was flying the plane, transfers control to the captain.

11:37:20 p.m.: The controller continues, "Stop Truck 1. Stop. Stop Truck 1. Stop." As he speaks, an alarm begins to beep.

11:37:25 p.m.: Flight 8646 slams into the fire truck. The cockpit voice recording stops.

Aftermath

11:37:45 p.m.: A controller tells the pilot of the next plane set to land to "go around," meaning he should keep flying instead of landing.

The controller then tries to raise the pilots of Flight 8646. "I see you collided with a vehicle there. Just hold position. I know you can't move. Vehicles are responding to you now." Other rescue vehicles race to the crash site.

11:55:37 p.m.: The pilot of another plane tells a controller: "That wasn't good to watch." The controller responds: "Yeah, I know. I was here ... We were dealing with an emergency earlier. I messed up." The pilot says: "Nah, man, you did the best you could."

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A timeline of the deadly collision at LaGuardia Airport

NEW YORK (AP) — It took less than a minute for a routine landing to spiral into a deadly crash Sunday at New York's L...

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