They came from different corners of Canada, took different roads to the cockpit. On Sunday evening, they found themselves on the same flight, and what the passengers would later say about them is more than any obituary could.
The Air Canada Express CRJ-900 that collided with a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport late Sunday had two pilots aboard. Both were killed when the plane struck a Port Authority vehicle on the runway, making them the only fatalities in a crash that sent 41 people to the hospital.
Emergency workers gather at the scene after an Air Canada Express plane collided with a fire truck on the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport on March 23, 2026 | Source: Getty Images
In the days since, details about who these men were — where they came from and how hard they worked to reach that cockpit — have surfaced. So has something a passenger said from the tarmac, still shaken, that reframes the entire tragedy.
An Air Canada Express plane sits on the tarmac after it collided with a fire truck on the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport on March 23, 2026 | Source: Getty Images
Who Was Captain Antoine Forest?
The pilot at the controls was Antoine Forest, a Quebec native from Coteau-du-Lac, a small town southwest of Montreal, about 20 kilometres east of the Ontario border.
His path to the cockpit was anything but a straight line. According to his LinkedIn profile, he began with Air Saguenay, flying bush planes and training as an aircraft maintenance engineer apprentice.
Antoine Forest seen in a post dated August 12, 2019 | Source: Facebook/antoine.forest.33
He later worked at Canadian Helicopters Limited before moving to Exact Air, where he rose from apprentice to captain. In December 2022, he joined Jazz Aviation LP as a first officer based in Montreal — the role he held at the time of the crash.
His Facebook page showed a man who lived fully off the clock, too: hiking, kayaking, sailing, and rock climbing all featured regularly.
Antoine Forest seen in a post dated May 17, 2019 | Source: Facebook/antoine.forest.33
Forest had been in a relationship with Kahina Gagnon since May 2022. She is also a professional pilot — currently a first officer at Pacific Coastal Airlines and a former Air Inuit pilot — and holds an officer position with the Canadian Armed Forces.
Kahina Gagnon seen in a post dated March 16, 2021 | Source: Facebook/kahina.gagnon
His hometown reacted quickly. Coteau-du-Lac’s municipal council posted its condolences on the city’s social media platforms.
Forest was 29 years old. Sitting to his right that night was the first officer, a man who had only just begun his own journey.
Antoine Forest seen in a post dated February 24, 2016 | Source: Facebook/antoine.forest.33
Who Was First Officer Mackenzie Gunther?
The co-pilot was Mackenzie Gunther, a young aviator who had only recently begun his professional career. Gunther graduated from Seneca Polytechnic with an Honours Bachelor of Aviation Technology in 2023.
Through the Jazz Aviation Pathways Program, he moved directly from graduation into the first officer seat — making Flight 8646 part of what was still a very new chapter.
MacKenzie Gunther seen in a post dated February 24, 2026 | Source: Facebook/canadaohcanada
Before aviation, his LinkedIn shows steady, unglamorous groundwork: a co-op stint as acting ramp lead at Porter Airlines in 2022, and seasonal landscaping work before that. He had been building toward this for years.
Seneca mourned him publicly, calling the news “tragic for our community.” Flags at all Seneca campuses were lowered to half-mast on Tuesday, March 24, in his honor.
