The two pilots killed when an Air Canada plane crashed into a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport have been identified as Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther.
Local media reported Forest was 30 years old and from Québec, while Gunther graduated from Seneca Polytechnic in Toronto in 2023.
The incident, which happened at 23:40 local time on Sunday (03:40 GMT on Monday), injured 41 people who were taken to hospital and shut down the New York airport until Monday afternoon.
These were two young men at the start of their career, so it's an absolute tragedy that we're sitting here with their loss, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) administrator Bran Bedford said.
Forest learned to fly bush planes in Saguenay in 2018 and was hired by Jazz Aviation in December 2022. His great aunt, Jeannette Gagnier, shared that he tirelessly pursued his aviation dreams.
Gunther graduated from Seneca, where flags at the campus would be lowered to half-mast in his memory. The flight, operated by Air Canada Express carrier Jazz Aviation, originated in Montreal.
Flight attendant Solange Tremblay miraculously survived after being ejected from the plane and was found alive, albeit with multiple fractures.
National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy stated that the ongoing investigation would include interviews with the air traffic controllers on duty at the time of the incident and highlighted issues with the air traffic control system.
