The two pilots killed in the collision between an Air Canada Jazz airplane and a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport in New York have been identified as Antoine Forest, from Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec, southwest of Montreal and Mackenzie Gunther, a graduate of Toronto college.
Investigators on both sides of the border have begun their investigation into a shocking crash on the tarmac at New York’s LaGuardia Airport Sunday night.
The Air Canada Jazz aircraft, en route from Montreal, struck a fire truck racing to another incident on the ground shortly after landing, killing the pilot and first officer, and sending dozens of others to hospital.
It was after dark and conditions were wet and drizzly at the time.
New video circulating of the crash show the plane and the truck on a direct collision course.
Canadian Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon says Canadian officials are providing whatever support possible to investigators and the victims and their families.
He says they have a team on site including Transportation Safety officials as well as a Transport Canada advisor. He’s spoken to the Airline Pilots’ Association of Canada, the CEOs of Air Canada and Jazz, and their offering their cooperation and sympathies to all employees.
U.S. officials are limited in what they can say, but American Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said staffing levels at LaGuardia are adequate.
“As our airports go, LaGuardia is a very well-staffed airport. We’re a couple of controllers short in total, but it is a well-staffed airport; 33 certified controllers that operate out of the tower here at LaGuardia.”
