Pilots killed in LaGuardia plane crash named

Investigators released details from the final three minutes of cockpit and tower communications, which showed controllers cleared both the plane and a fire truck to cross the runway. Air Canada pilots Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther died in LaGuardia plane crash Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Antoine Forest, 30, was identified as one of the pilots killed in the incident A black and white profile picture of Antoine Forest Pilots killed in LaGuardia plane crash named 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, told the newspaper that he and his brother would spend summers with her as he practiced his English to become a pilot. "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," she said. Gunther joined Air Canada after graduating from Seneca, which said flags at the campus would be lowered to half-mast on Tuesday. "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 college said in a statement. The Air Canada plane with debris beneath the nose Air Canada flight attendant Solange Tremblay from Quebec miraculously survived after being ejected from the plane and was found alive strapped to her seat more than a hundred metres (300ft) from the plane, suffering multiple fractures. Her daughter, Sarah Lépine, told local broadcaster TVA Nouvelles on Monday she was seated behind the pilots when the plane landed. Solange Tremblay taking a selfie outside of a plane "It's a complete miracle," Lépine said. "She had a guardian angel watching over her. It could have been much worse." The two officers inside the fire truck that collided with the plane were also taken to hospital with injuries. An air traffic controller was heard saying: "'Truck One, stop, stop, stop!" seconds before the crash. Investigators on Tuesday released details from the final three minutes of cockpit voice recordings and tower communications, including that controllers had cleared both the plane and a fire truck to cross the runway. National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said the inquiry was ongoing and would include interviews with the two controllers on duty on Sunday night. She also noted that a ground radar system that could have provided an alert before the collision failed to do so, and the truck lacked a transponder, that would have helped the radar system detect it. Calling the US air traffic control system "old" and in need of an upgrade, Homendy urged against assigning blame. "Controllers should have all the information and the tools to do their job," she said. "You have to have information on the ground movements, whether that's aircraft or vehicles... this is 2026." She added that air traffic controllers had long raised concerns about under-staffing, describing the tower as a "high-workload environment" where, when something goes wrong, "many things have gone wrong". Air Canada flight AC8646 with its nose upturned and wrecked. Emergency services surround it. The tarmac is wet, it is early morning. What we know about the LaGuardia Airport crash National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators inspect the wreckage of an Air Canada Express jet that collided with a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York, U.S., March 23, 2026. 'Like the plane got cut in half': LaGuardia crash that killed two pilots now under investigation A damaged passenger plane lies on the runway of LaGuardia Airport as emergency vehicles surround it. How the deadly LaGuardia Airport crash unfolded An Air Canada plane with damage at the front as it hinges upwards Two pilots dead after plane and ground vehicle collide at New York's LaGuardia Airport The Hercules military transport plane crashed minutes after take-off near Colombia's southern border with Peru. Two pilots died after a passenger plane collided with a fire truck at New York's LaGuardia Airport. Investigators say the Cessna’s engine was not cleaned properly which led to an oil leak. BBC Verify breaks down the moments before the deadly collision with a fire truck at the New York airport. President Trump says the US is already dealing with a "top person" in Iran, but Tehran denies that any talks have begun. Dayton Webber, 27, was driving when he opened fire on a man in the front-seat, police say. Rubio's former housemate is charged with illegally trying to influence the first Trump administration on behalf of the Venezuelan government. 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