In the final moments before the devastating crash at LaGuardia Airport, what unfolded inside the cockpit of the Air Canada flight is now being remembered as an act of quiet heroism.
Passengers onboard an Air Canada flight that collided with a firetruck at New York City‘s busy LaGuardia Airport on Sunday night have praised the pilots for their ‘incredible reflexes,’ which they say saved lives.
The pilot Antoine Forest, 30, and his first officer, Mackenzie Gunther, were killed upon impact, while 41 others were rushed to a local hospital for injuries they sustained.
But Rebecca Liquori said she is ‘forever indebted’ to the pilots’ quick instincts to try to stop the plane.
‘I feel like the pilots saved our lives,’ she told CNN‘s Erin Burnett on Monday. ‘They’re the reasons I was able to make it home safe to see my boys, and my heart goes out to their families.’
Clément Lelièvre, a French national, also told The Canadian Press how he felt the pilots brake ‘extremely hard’ as the plane touched down at around 11.45pm.
By doing so, he said he believes the pilots prevented further deaths.
‘I don’t know the circumstances, but I think he kind of saved our lives because he must have had incredible reflexes,’ Lelièvre said.
As federal investigators now work to determine what may have caused the fatal collision, friends and family members remembered the two pilots for their dedication to aviation.
Antoine Forest, 30, was killed upon impact when the Air Canada flight he was flying from Montreal collided with a fire truck at LaGuardia International Airport on Sunday night
Passengers now praise his and his first officer’s quick-thinking actions with preventing any further deaths. Pictured: Forest
Surveillance footage of the runway showed the Air Canada Bombardier CRJ-900 aircraft landing at the same moment the fire truck crossed its path on the tarmac
‘These were two young men at the start of their careers,’ Federal Aviation Administrator Brian Bedford said.
‘It’s an absolute tragedy that we’re sitting here with their loss.’
Forest, of Coteau-du-Lac in Quebec, was just 16 years old when he first took to the skies, his great-aunt Jeanette Gagnier told the Toronto Star.
She explained that when he was in Grade 11, Forest asked if he could stay with her in Ontario to attend school and learn more English so he could improve his chances at a career as a pilot.
‘He was always taking courses and flying,’ said Gagnier, whom Forest listed on his Facebook page as his grandmother. ‘He never stopped.’
Forest would go on to get a job as an assistant engineer with Canadian Helicopters Limited, before moving on to successive stints with other Quebec-based airplane services as an apprentice and a first officer, his LinkedIn shows.
He then listed himself as a first officer listed himself for Jazz Aviation, flying Air Canada Express out of Montreal, in 2022.
Alexandre Circé also told the Montreal Gazette that Forest was drawn to flying as ‘one of the last true adventurer’s professions.’
‘He was very interested in mechanics and how things work, so aviation suited him perfectly,’ Circé said, calling Forest’s untimely death ‘a tremendous loss for his family and loved ones, but also for anyone who might have crossed paths with him in the future.’
A terrified passenger shared shocking images of the damage to the aircraft
The fire truck was completely destroyed by the wreck, but both firefighters were expected to survive
