Passengers aboard an Air Canada flight that collided with a fire truck at New York’s busy LaGuardia Airport on Sunday night have praised the pilots for their “incredible reflexes,” saying their quick response helped save lives.
Pilot Antoine Forest, 30, and first officer Mackenzie Gunther were killed in the impact, while 41 other passengers were taken to hospital with injuries.
Rebecca Liquori said she feels “forever indebted” to the pilots for their decisive actions in the moments before the crash.
“I feel like the pilots saved our lives,” she told CNN. “They’re the reason I made it home safely to see my boys, and my heart goes out to their families.”
French passenger Clément Lelièvre also told The Canadian Press that he felt the aircraft brake “extremely hard” upon landing at around 11:45pm, suggesting the pilots’ reaction may have prevented further casualties.
“I don’t know the circumstances, but I think he kind of saved our lives because he must have had incredible reflexes,” he said.
Tributes to the pilots
As investigators work to determine the cause of the fatal incident, colleagues and relatives have remembered the two pilots as dedicated aviation professionals.
Federal Aviation Administration official Brian Bedford described them as “two young men at the start of their careers,” calling the tragedy “an absolute loss.”
Forest, from Coteau-du-Lac in Quebec, reportedly developed a passion for flying at a young age and pursued aviation studies before working his way through various roles in the industry, eventually becoming a first officer with Jazz Aviation flying Air Canada Express.
Friends described him as deeply passionate about aviation, with one saying flying was “one of the last true adventurous professions” that suited his curiosity for how things work.
Gunther graduated from Seneca Polytechnic’s aviation program in 2023 and joined Jazz Aviation through its pilot pathway program. The institution said he would be “deeply missed.”
Crash details under investigation
Surveillance footage showed the Bombardier CRJ-900 landing as a fire truck crossed the runway during heavy rain. The aircraft, reportedly travelling at around 150 mph, struck the vehicle, sending water spraying across the tarmac and destroying the truck on impact.
Air traffic control audio revealed repeated warnings moments before the collision, including urgent calls for the fire truck to stop.
The vehicle had been cleared to cross the runway to respond to a separate incident involving a passenger aircraft reporting an unusual odor in the cabin.
Controllers issued a last-second warning — “Truck One, stop, stop, stop!” — but the collision occurred shortly after.
Air traffic audio later captured confusion in the aftermath, with one controller informing the aircraft it had collided with a vehicle, while another nearby pilot commented: “We got stuff in progress for that man, that wasn’t good to watch,” later receiving reassurance from the controller.
Emergency response and aftermath
There were 72 passengers and four crew members on board. Officials said the death toll could have been higher if the impact had involved the aircraft’s fuel tanks.
Two firefighters inside the truck were among the injured, while a flight attendant was reportedly ejected from the aircraft but is expected to recover fully.
LaGuardia Airport was temporarily closed following the crash before partially reopening the next day as recovery operations continued on the damaged runway.
The National Transportation Safety Board has recovered both the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, confirming the CVR appears undamaged. Investigators are now analyzing wreckage and reviewing staffing and air traffic control procedures at the time of the incident.
Authorities said they are verifying reports about controller workload and tower staffing as part of the ongoing investigation.
