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 happened 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.
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, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) administrator Bran Bedford said.
Forest had learned to fly bush planes in Saguenay in 2018 before being hired by Air Canada in December 2022, the Toronto Star reported. His great aunt, Jeannette Gagnier, shared her memories of him, stating, It's a very bad day for me...he was always taking courses and flying. He never stopped...he flew his first plane when he was 16-years-old.
Gunther joined Air Canada after graduating from Seneca, which has announced that flags at the campus would be lowered to half-mast in his honor. The college expressed their condolences and stated that he will be deeply missed.
In a remarkable turn of events, Air Canada flight attendant Solange Tremblay survived the crash despite sustaining multiple fractures. Found alive more than 100 meters from the wreckage, she was strapped to her seat at the time. Her daughter remarked on the miracle of her survival, stating, It could have been much worse.
The crash also involved two fire truck officers who were hospitalized with injuries. Eyewitness accounts indicate the chaotic moments leading up to the collision, including urgent commands from air traffic control.
Ongoing investigations have uncovered communication failures between the control tower and ground vehicles. National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy emphasized the need for modernizing air traffic control systems to prevent future tragedies.
