Pilots killed in jet collision on LaGuardia runway identified

The pilots killed in Sunday’s collision between a plane and a fire truck on a runway in New York were two young, ambitious Canadian men that had long dreamed of becoming pilots.

Mackenzie Gunther and Antoine Forrest were operating the Air Canada jet that was landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Sunday when it collided with a fire truck. Officials still haven’t identified the two men publicly, but a family member who spoke to The Associated Press and a Canadian college that one of the men attended separately confirmed their identities.

About 40 of the roughly 70 passengers and crew members on the regional jet from Montreal, and two people from the fire truck, were taken to hospitals, some with serious injuries. Most were released by Monday morning, authorities said.

“These were two young men at the start of their careers,” FAA Administrator Brian Bedford told reporters Monday. “It’s an absolute tragedy that we’re sitting here with their loss.”

An investigation is underway into the cause. Federal officials said on Tuesday that a runway warning system failed to sound an alarm moments before the collision, and are looking into the role of the air traffic controllers and what they were doing while juggling a late night emergency involving another plane. The crash occurred during an already messy time at U.S. airports because of a partial government shutdown.

Here is what is known so far about both pilots.

Antoine Forest

Jeannette Gagnier, the great aunt of one of the pilots, identified him as Antoine Forest. Gagnier, who said that Forest looked to her as a grandmother figure, told AP that he always wanted to be a pilot. His LinkedIn page showed he had worked for two airlines the past five years.

Forest’s Facebook page said that he was from Coteau-du-Lac, a small city in southwestern Québec. The mayor of Coteau-du-Lac, Andrée Brosseau, offered condolences to Forest’s family in a translated post on Tuesday from French.

“Antoine was one of our own. In a community like ours, everyone knows someone who knew him. His passing represents an immense loss for our entire community,” Brosseau wrote.

Antoine’s brother, Cédric Forest, shared a picture of his brother and him when they were kids. “Have a safe flight, my brother! Oh yes, we’ve often heard that phrase, but this time will be the last,” he wrote on Facebook. “You were coming and going in the wind, always full of new projects in mind. Gone again in the wind too soon to say goodbye I love you brother you can leave with your head held high.”

A woman who said she is Forest’s girlfriend and also a young pilot shared a photo of the couple on her Facebook account on Tuesday captioned “the love of my life.”

Mackenzie Gunther

Toronto college Seneca Polytechnic said in a statement on Tuesday that Mackenzie Gunther graduated from its Honors Bachelor of Aviation Technology program in 2023.

He joined the Jazz Aviation Pathways Program, a training program operated by Air Canada, immediately after graduating. The flight that crashed on Tuesday was a Jazz Aviation plane operating on behalf of Air Canada.

“Seneca sends our deepest condolences to Mr. Gunther’s family and friends, and to his former colleagues and professors. He will be deeply missed,” the school’s post said.

The school lowered its flags to half-staff to honor Gunther on Tuesday.

Some have said it was a miracle that more people weren’t hurt, and at least one passenger Clément Lelièvre credited Gunther and Forest’s “incredible reflexes” with saving his life and those of others. The pilots braked extremely hard just as the plane touched down, he said.