Authorities have identified the second pilot involved in the tragic Air Canada crash that occurred at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport. The incident unfolded when the Air Canada plane collided with a firetruck on the runway.
MacKenzie Gunther was serving as the first officer on Air Canada Express’ Flight 646, which had departed from Montreal on a fateful Sunday night. He was working alongside pilot Antoine Forest, a 30-year-old from Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec, as reported by Radio-Canada.
Tragically, both Gunther and Forest lost their lives when their Bombardier CRJ-900 aircraft landed at around 11:47 p.m. At the same moment, a firetruck unexpectedly crossed its path, leading to a catastrophic collision.
As the plane was traveling at a speed of approximately 150 mph, the impact with the firetruck resulted in a dramatic scene. Surveillance footage captured the intense moment, showing a massive splash of water as the truck was sent skidding across the runway amidst heavy rainfall.
The aftermath saw 41 individuals rushed to the hospital. Among them were two firefighters who were inside the firetruck during the crash and a flight attendant who was ejected 330 feet from the aircraft.
Flight 646 carried 72 passengers and four crew members. Experts have remarked on the potential for a far more devastating scenario had the firetruck collided with the plane’s fuel tanks.
Federal authorities are now investigating what may have caused the fatal collision, as audio from air traffic control revealed workers pleaded for the fire truck to stop seconds before it crashed into the landing jet.
The fire truck had been given permission to cross the runway to deal with an unrelated issue on a separate plane, where a pilot reported that an ‘odor’ was filling the aircraft that left ‘flight attendants feeling ill’, officials said.
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
National Transportation Safety Board investigators were seen surveying the wreckage on Monday
As the fire truck raced to the other aircraft, air traffic controllers appeared to realize it was on a collision course with the Air Canada jet just seconds before impact at around 11.30pm, as one said in the audio: ‘Truck One, stop, stop, stop!’
Addressing the plane seconds later, the air traffic controller said: ‘JAZZ 646, I see you collided with the vehicle. Just hold position. I know you can’t move. Vehicles are responding to you now.’
Images from the tarmac after the incident showed the truck was destroyed in the collision. The nose of the Air Canada plane had also been torn off by the impact.
The deadly crash left LaGuardia Airport closed for several hours, before it reopened Monday afternoon at a reduced capacity while the wrecked plane and firetruck remain on the tarmac.
National Transportation Safety Board members will now comb through the wreckage to figure out what to collect and take back to a lab in Washington DC, Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference.
But authorities have already been able to retrieve the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder, Homendy told reporters.
She said the NTSB, Port Authority and emergency responders had to cut a hole in the roof of the aircraft and drop down into the wreckage to secure the devices.
They were then taken back to labs in Washington DC, and investigators have ‘been able to at least verify that the cockpit voice recorder was not damaged,’ Homendy said.
A terrified passenger shared shocking images of the damage to the aircraft
NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said the agency is working to verify preliminary information about staffing at the air traffic control tower
The deadly crash came amid an ongoing nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers, and sources told NBC News that the air traffic controller on duty Sunday night had been working two positions at the time of the crash.
The NTSB is now working to verify preliminary information about staffing at the air traffic control tower at the time of the crash.
‘We have to look at records,’ Homendy said. ‘There are sign-in sheets. We have to do interviews. We have to look at time cards. That is information we always have to corroborate.’
But Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has refuted the claim, as he vowed to offer bonuses for older air traffic controllers on Monday.
