Air Canada pilots Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther died in LaGuardia plane crash

BBC News · 🇬🇧 public United Kingdom · Mar 24, 2026 · 577 words · By Olivia Ireland

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What to know about Air Canada pilots Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther died in LaGuardia plane crash

An Air Canada Express plane crash at LaGuardia Airport killed two pilots and injured 41 people. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating, citing issues with radar systems and air traffic control staffing. Survivors and family members shared personal accounts of the incident.

Propaganda risk 0%

Claims checked 15

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center80%

Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Pilots killed in LaGuardia plane crash named 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.

Why it matters

Local media reported Forest was 30-years-old and from Québec, while Gunther graduated from Seneca Polytechnic in Toronto in 2023.

Common ground

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.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Air Canada pilots Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther died in LaGuardia plane crash?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Calling the US air traffic control system "old" and in need of an upgrade, Homendy urged against assigning blame?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz67jq0enwpo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

analyticsAnalysis

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 15 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

help Insufficient Evidence 7

schedule Pending 5

verified Verified By Reference 3

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Claim 1: “Calling the US air traffic control system "old" and in need of an upgrade, Homendy urged against assigning blame.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 2: “Investigators on Tuesday released details from the final three minutes of cockpit voice recordings and tower communications, including that controllers had cleared both the plane and a fire truck to cross the runway.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search to confirm the technical details of the crash or aircraft status.

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Claim 3: “CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story described the pilots and crew as working for Air Canada. They were employees of Jazz Aviation LP. The flight was operated by Jazz, which is an Air Canada Express carrier.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 4: “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.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia entries for Air Canada Express Flight 8646 and deaths in 2026 do not mention the specific names of pilots killed in the crash. No direct confirmation of Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Air Canada Express Flight 8646 was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from Montréal–Trudeau International Airport in Quebec, Canada, to LaGuardia Airport in New York, United States. …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Canada_Express_Flight_8646

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This list of stage names lists names used by those in the entertainment industry, alphabetically by their stage name's surname followed by their birth name. Individuals who dropped their last name and…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stage_names

verified

Claim 5: “Local media reported Forest was 30-years-old and from Québec, while Gunther graduated from Seneca Polytechnic in Toronto in 2023.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia entries for deaths in 2026 and Mount Logan do not provide details about Antoine Forest's age, origin, or Mackenzie Gunther's education. No direct confirmation of graduation dates or locations.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following notable deaths occurred in 2026. Names are reported under the date of death, in alphabetical order. A typical entry reports information in the following sequence: Name, age, country of …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_in_2026

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mount Logan is a mountain on the Gaspé Peninsula, in Quebec, Canada. Part of the Chic-Choc Mountains, Mount Logan rises 1,150 metres (3,773 ft) above sea level, making it the highest point in the Bas-…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Logan_(Quebec)

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Claim 6: “Flight attendant Solange Tremblay from Quebec miraculously survived after being ejected from the plane and was found alive strapped to her seat more than a hundred metres (300ft) from the plane, suffering multiple fractures.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search to confirm details about the crash survivor or medical treatment.

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Claim 7: “She also noted that a ground radar system that could have provided an alert before the collision failed to do so, and the truck lacked a transponder, that would have helped the radar system detect it.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 8: “Forest learned to fly bush planes in Saguenay in 2018, the Toronto Star reported. He was hired by Jazz Aviation in December 2022.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence found in Wikipedia or webسلح to confirm details about Antoine Forest's training or Mackenzie Gunther's flight experience.

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Claim 9: “Gunther graduated from Seneca, which said flags at the campus would be lowered to half-mast on Tuesday, before he was hired at Jazz.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search to confirm Mackenzie Gunther's graduation details or coursework.

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Claim 10: “National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said the inquiry was ongoing and would include interviews with the two controllers on duty on Sunday night.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 11: “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.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia entries about military aircraft accidents (1950–1954, 2010–2019, and pre-1925) are unrelated to the LaGuardia Airport crash. No evidence about crash time, injuries, or airport closure.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft grouped by the year in which the accident or incident occurred. Not all of the aircraft were in operation at the time. Combat loss…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incident…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft grouped by the year in which the accident or incident occurred. Not all of the aircraft were in operation at the time. For more ex…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incident…

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Claim 12: “The flight, operated by Air Canada Express carrier Jazz Aviation, originated in Montreal.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search to confirm the operational status of Air Canada Express Flight 8646 or its connection to the crash.

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Claim 13: “An air traffic controller was heard saying: "'Truck One, stop, stop, stop!'" seconds before the crash.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search to confirm the timeline of the crash or witness accounts.

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Claim 14: “She added that air traffic controllers have long raised concerns about under-staffing, describing the tower as a "high-workload environment" where, when something goes wrong, "many things have gone wrong".”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 15: “The two officers inside the fire truck that collided with the plane were also taken to hospital with injuries.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search to confirm the number of casualties or rescue operations.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.