Air Canada co-pilot killed in crash identified by Ontario college as Mackenzie Gunther
The co-pilot of the Air Canada flight that collided with a fire truck at LaGuardia airport on Sunday night has been identified as Mackenzie Gunther, a graduate of Seneca Polytechnic in Toronto.
“Seneca mourns the loss of alumnus Mackenzie Gunther in the aviation accident at LaGuardia Airport in New York yesterday,” the school said in an “in memoriam” note posted to its website.
“Mr. Gunther graduated from the Honours Bachelor of Aviation Technology (FPR) program in 2023,” it continued. “Through the Jazz Aviation Pathways Program, he joined Jazz Aviation immediately after graduation and began his professional flying career. He was the First Officer on the flight, operating as Air Canada Express, from Montreal to New York.”
???? UPDATE: Antoine Forest and MacKenzie Gunther have been identified as the Captain and First Officer from the Air Canada Express Flight 8646 that collided with a fire truck on a runway at LaGuardia Airport.
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 24, 2026
In a miracle story, flight attendant, Solange Tremblay, survived the… pic.twitter.com/RKvrbNufH8
The school said that its flags would be lowered to half-mast on Tuesday in honour of Gunther, adding: “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 pilot of the plane was Antoine Forest, identified Sunday night by Quebec media after the crash. He was a 30-year-old from Coteau-du-Lac, a Quebec city west of Montreal.
The collision occurred just before midnight Sunday, when a CRJ-900 operated by Jazz Aviation touched down on runway four at LaGuardia with 72 passengers and four crew members on board.
On air traffic control radio, a controller could be heard clearing an airport fire truck to cross the runway to respond to a different emergency. He then repeated “stop” numerous times before the plane broadsided the vehicle. Forest and Gunther were killed in the crash, and more than 40 people were sent to hospital.
An investigation by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and aided by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada is underway.
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