Antoine Forest and MacKenzie Gunther id as Air Canada pilots killed in LaGuardia crash after colliding with Port Authority fire truck crossing their runway responding to a separate incident. Quebec area pilots hailed heroes for averting deadly catastrophe.
Two pilots who were killed after an Air Canada Express plane collided with a Port Authority fire truck while landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport Sunday night had just started their careers.
Pilot, Antoine Forest, 30, and first officer MacKenzie Gunther were killed after the CRJ-900 plane, Flight 8646 which was carrying more than 70 people, from Montreal to New York, crashed into a fire truck moments upon landing just on 11:40 p.m., Radio-Canada reported.
The truck was responding to a separate United Airlines aircraft that had reported an issue with an ‘odor’ at the time of the collision.
Breakdown in coordination cited as cause of Air Canada, LaGuardia collision
The impact destroyed the cockpit area, killing both pilots. The two pilots died after the Air Canada jet was given the go-ahead to land on Runway 4 at the same time as a fire truck was given clearance to drive across the same runway while responding to a separate emergency.
Air traffic control audio reportedly captured last-minute warnings to the fire truck to stop, indicating a breakdown in coordination during a separate emergency response.
At the time, the plane was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members from Montreal to New York. A total of 41 passengers and crew were taken to hospital, though most sustained minor injuries and were later discharged CBC reported.
BREAKING: MacKenzie Gunther is identified as second pilot killed in Air Canada crash at LaGuardia, in New York.
He served as the first officer on Air Canada Express Flight 646 from Montreal on Sunday night, working alongside pilot Antoine Forest, 30, of Coteau-du-Lac in Quebec pic.twitter.com/2TMEubjqDj
— Clash Observer (@clashobserver) March 24, 2026
Air Canada passengers quick thinking to get off plane
After the Air Canada jet collided with the fire truck, passengers said they tore open emergency exit doors, jumped off the plane’s wings and then turned around to catch others coming up behind them.
‘Strangely enough, I wasn’t scared or panicked. On the contrary, I think most of us were pretty aware of what happened,’ said passenger Clement Lelievre. ‘So we all went outside; we got other people out.’
Another passenger said the jet hit turbulence while descending, and she then felt it brake hard and heard a loud boom.
‘These were two young men at the start of their careers, so it’s an absolute tragedy,’ Bryan Bedford, head of the Federal Aviation Administration, told reporters.
‘So it’s an absolute tragedy that we’re sitting here with their loss,’ he said.
Both pilots had dreamed of being pilots since teens
Forest, aged 30, was a resident of Coteau-du-Lac, Que., southwest of Montreal, about 20 kilometers east of the Ontario border.
His LinkedIn page listed him as an employee of Jazz Aviation, which operated the Air Canada plane, since December 2022.
Forest’s Facebook page includes photos of him on outdoor adventures such as hiking, kayaking, sailing and climbing.
Jeannette Gagnier, his great aunt, said he always wanted to be a pilot.
She told a news channel that he flew his first plane when he was 16.
Gunther was also a Canadian-based pilot.
A passenger credited the pilots’ ‘incredible reflexes’ for saving their lives.
‘They braked extremely hard just as the plane touched down,’ he said.
Air Canada pilots hailed heroes for averting far worse disaster
Passengers and crew have described the pilots as ‘heroes,’ crediting their actions, particularly rapid braking during landing, with preventing a possibly far worse disaster.
Eyewitness accounts suggest that the pilots reacted quickly upon touchdown, attempting to stop the aircraft before impact. Some passengers believe these actions reduced the severity of the crash and saved lives.
Forest, 30, had been flying since his teens and joined Jazz Aviation as a first officer in 2022, according to relatives and public records. Gunther graduated from the Honours Bachelor of Aviation Technology (FPR) program at Seneca Polytechnic in 2023 and joined Jazz Aviation immediately after graduation, the school said in a statement.
Air Canada and Jazz Aviation issued statements offering condolences to the families and saying they are cooperating fully with investigators.
