Frozen in Time: Pilot Antoine Forest Died Clutching His Phone — Last Call to Family Cut Short in Horrific LaGuardia Crash

NEW YORK — Two promising young pilots were killed Sunday night when their Air Canada jet slammed into a Port Authority fire truck on a LaGuardia Airport runway, turning a routine landing into one of the city’s most shocking aviation disasters in years.

The only fatalities in the crash were the cockpit crew. One has been identified as Antoine Forest, a 30-year-old first officer from Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec, whose lifelong passion for flying ended in tragedy just as his career was taking off.

“He flew his first plane when he was 16 years old,” his great-aunt Jeannette Gagnier told the Toronto Star through tears on Monday. “He was always taking courses and flying. He never stopped. It’s a very bad day for me.”

Forest had worked relentlessly to make his dream a reality. As a teenager he spent summers with Gagnier and her husband in Hawkesbury, Ontario, where he threw himself into learning English — determined that language would never stand in the way of a professional pilot’s license. By high school he was already logging hours in the air, and in December 2022 he joined Jazz Aviation as a first officer on the regional jet that would later bear the doomed flight number 8646, operating as Air Canada Express.

The sequence of events that claimed his life unfolded with brutal speed. While another aircraft nearby experienced mechanical trouble, Port Authority emergency crews were cleared to race across the active runway in a fire truck. At the exact same moment, air traffic control gave the Air Canada jet permission to land. The two vehicles met in a violent collision that tore through the cockpit.

Emergency responders worked frantically through the night to reach the pilots. When they finally pulled the bodies from the mangled wreckage, one of the deceased pilots — still strapped in his seat — was found clutching his cellphone. The screen showed an unfinished outgoing call to his family. In those final seconds before impact, he had apparently tried desperately to reach the people he loved most. The phone remained in his hand as rescuers carried him away, a heartbreaking detail that has left relatives and first responders struggling for words.

The second pilot’s name has not yet been released.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford spoke at an afternoon press conference, his voice heavy with emotion. “These were two young men at the start of their careers, so it’s an absolute tragedy that we’re sitting here with their loss.”

Miraculously, none of the 70 passengers and crew members aboard suffered fatal injuries. About 40 were taken to local hospitals, most with only minor cuts, bruises and shock. By Monday morning the majority had already been released.

The Air Line Pilots Association paid tribute to the fallen crew. “The loss of our two fellow crewmembers onboard Flight 8646 is a profound tragedy,” union President Jason Ambrosi said in a statement. “They were dedicated to their passengers’ safety above all else.”

Jazz Aviation President Doug Clarke echoed the sentiment: “Today is an incredibly difficult day for our airline, our employees, and most importantly, the families and loved ones of those affected by the accident involving flight 8646. We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of our two pilots and our unwavering support to those who have been injured.”

Forest’s family in Quebec and his extended relatives in Ontario are now preparing to bring him home. Gagnier, who watched her great-nephew grow from a wide-eyed teenager into a confident professional pilot, could only repeat the same quiet sentence: “He never stopped flying.”

The National Transportation Safety Board has launched a full investigation. For now, however, the focus remains on two young men whose careers — and lives — were cut short in an instant, one of them still reaching for his family even as the world went dark around him.