In brief
The LaGuardia Airport crash that resulted in the deaths of two young pilots, Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther, has been a devastating incident for the aviation community. The tragedy struck late Sunday night when an Air Canada plane collided with a fire truck on the runway, injuring numerous individuals and prompting investigations into the events leading up to the crash.
The two Air Canada pilots killed when a plane crashed into a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport have been identified as Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther.
Local media reported Forest was 30-years-old and from Québec, while Gunther graduated from Seneca Polytechnic in Toronto in 2023.
The incident, which took place at 23:40 local time on Sunday (03:40 GMT on Monday), injured 41 people who were taken to hospital and shut the New York airport until Monday afternoon.
Bran Bedford, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) administrator, remarked on the tragedy, stating, These were two young men at the start of their career, so it's an absolute tragedy that we're sitting here with their loss.\
Forest had learned to fly bush planes in Saguenay in 2018 before being hired by Air Canada in December 2022. His great aunt shared that Forest had a passion for flying since he was a teenager.
Mackenzie Gunther, who had recently joined Air Canada, was remembered by Seneca Polytechnic with flags lowered to half-mast to honor his memory.
Miraculously, among the survivors, flight attendant Solange Tremblay was found alive after being ejected from the plane and landing more than 100 meters away, suffering multiple fractures.
Two officers inside the fire truck involved in the collision were also hospitalized, and ongoing investigations are examining the final moments leading up to the accident as well as systemic issues within the air traffic control system at LaGuardia.
