‘Hero’ Air Canada pilots identified after both killed in horror crash between plane and fire truck at LaGuardia Airport

Moment plane passenger goes berserk and unleashes tirade of abuse as she’s kicked off flight for playing videos on speaker

BOTH of the pilots killed in the deadly crash between an Air Canada plane and a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport have been identified.

Sunday night’s crash killed the pilot and co-pilot and injured dozens of people.

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One of the pilots killed in the Air Canada crash at LaGuardia Airport has been identifiedCredit: Facebook

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The pilot, Antoine Forest, was from Québec, CanadaCredit: Facebook

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An Air Canada plane collided with a fire truck on the runway on Sunday nightCredit: Reuters

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The collision left dozens injured, including two people in the fire truckCredit: Getty
Just before midnight on Sunday, an Air Canada Express plane collided with a Port Authority fire truck, causing the major New York City hub to shut down for several hours.

One of the pilots was identified as Antoine Forest, from Coteau-du-Lac, Québec, outside Montreal, according to Journal de Montreal.

Mackenzie Gunther has been identified as the second pilot.

Forest’s LinkedIn profile showed he had been a first officer with Jazz Aviation for just over three years.

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Moment Air Canada jet smashes into fire truck in deadly runway crash

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said on Monday afternoon that both of the pilots were men at the start of their careers.

The name of the other pilot had not been revealed as of late Monday afternoon.

The two pilots were killed on impact.

Speaking to The U.S. Sun, passenger Joe Capio praised the pilots for avoiding an even worse crash.Politician arrested for faking his own disappearance after ‘fearing for life’

“I feel terrible about the pilots and I think they are honestly heroes,” he said.

“The pilots greeted us and were very nice. They saved everybody on that plane.”

Rebecca Liquori, one of the passengers onboard the flight, also hailed the pilots as heroes in an interview with The New York Times.

“They did everything they can to save us and they didn’t save themselves and they couldn’t save themselves,” she said.

“Every time I close my eyes, my heart is racing, I just hear screaming.”

Liquori told News12 Long Island that the plane hit turbulence while it was descending and then landed “very roughly.”

“It was like the plane jolted and you heard the pilot try to brake trying to prevent the collision,” she said. “As you heard the brake, a couple seconds later it was just a very loud boom!”

“Everybody just jolted out of their seats. People hit their heads. People were bleeding.”

Forty-one people on board the flight were rushed to local hospitals, but almost all of them were released on Monday.

The two individuals inside the fire truck remain hospitalized, officials said.

LaGuardia Airport closed after the crash to “allow for a thorough investigation” but reopened at 2pm on Monday as scheduled, with a flight taking off within minutes of reopening.

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US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said the airport is working at “reduced capacity” because the aircraft and fire truck are still in the same position following the crash.

Those flying through LaGuardia were advised to expect “residual delays and cancellations” while the airport resumed normal operations.

“Travelers are strongly encouraged to check with their carrier before departing for the airport,” the airport said.

Duffy also shut down rumors that there was only one air traffic controller working the tower at the time of the crash, saying those were reports were false.

The transportation secretary also noted the NTSB report could take months or even a year to be released.

“It’s incredibly sad. It’s troubling,” Duffy said of the crash. “It’s troubling that we had an aircraft hit a fire truck.”

“I want to let America know we are working our hearts off to make sure when people travel, whether by rail, or car, or by air, that they travel safely.”

“When I was at the crash site it was just a reminder that when you’re traveling by air, you should wear your seatbelt.

“If you see the videos of the air crash, wear your seatbelt when you’re on an airplane also in a car. Wear a seatbelt. As you see from last night, they do save lives.”

The CRJ-900, operated by Jazz Aviation, was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members when it struck the fire truck.

The truck was responding to a separate incident involving a reported odor on a United Airlines flight.

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Flight attendant Solange Tremblay was ejected from the aircraft after the crash and sustained injuries to her legCredit: Facebook
One of the flight attendants, identified as Solange Tremblay, was ejected from the aircraft following the crash.

She was found still secured in her seat and suffered multiple fractures to one of her legs, her daughter Sarah Lépine told Canadian news station TVA Nouvelles, per CBS42.

Tremblay will need to undergo surgery, but Lépine said it was “a total miracle” that she survived.

“I’m still trying to understand how all this happened, but she definitely has a guardian angel watching over her,” Lépine said.

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Debris was seen dangling from the nose of the mangled planeCredit: Avalon.red

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The crash occurred just before midnight on SundayCredit: Reuters

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The airplane crashed into a fire truck on the runway that was responding to a separate incidentCredit: AFP
Security camera footage was released after the crash showing the moment the two vehicles collided.

The aircraft could be seen driving along the runway while an emergency vehicle with flashing lights crossed its path.

The nose of the aircraft then rammed into the vehicle as the fire truck appeared to tumble over.

An audio recording from the air traffic control tower was also released, showing the moments before and after the collision.

“Frontier 4195, just stop there please,” a controller was calmly heard saying.

Seconds later, the controller was heard shouting “Stop, stop, stop, stop, truck one. Stop, stop, stop. Stop truck one. Stop.”

“I tried to reach out to ’em. I stopped and we were dealing with an emergency earlier. I messed up,” the controller later told another person on the airwaves.

“No man you did the best you could,” the other man replied.

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A video was released on social media showing the moment the plane collided with the fire truckCredit: X
One of the survivors of the crash spoke exclusively with The U.S. Sun on Monday.

Joe Capio, 29, and his fiancée Peyton Northrop, 27, were among those hospitalized.

“I’d say about 11:40pm, we were landing. It was a very smooth landing,” Capio told The U.S. Sun.

“We hit the ground, started to slow down.

“About 30 to 40 seconds into it. I don’t remember the exact timing, but everyone ended up jerking forward abruptly. And then there was a loud crash and a bang.

“And then it felt like the plane was just skating down the runway for a good distance, until it came to a complete stop.

“Everyone was really confused and didn’t really know what was going on.

“The front of the plane was just warped sideways.”

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Capio was seated in the exit row and said he took the door off before passengers gathered on the wing of the plane.

“We all went on the wing and someone eventually came over and then we slid down the wing and they took us to the grass area on the tarmac,” he said.

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Passengers reported a rough landing and a loud noise after the crashCredit: Reuters

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Emergency workers were seen gathered at the scene of the crash between the Air Canada flight and a fire truckCredit: Getty