Aviation experts to probe Air Canada flight after fatal crash at LaGuardia Airport

By Canadian Press on March 24, 2026.

NEW YORK — American aviation experts have arrived in New York City to probe how an Air Canada flight from Montreal crash-landed at LaGuardia Airport, killing its two pilots and injuring many others.

Disaster struck late Sunday when the jetliner carrying 72 passengers and four crew touched down and crashed into a firefighting truck moments later.

On air traffic control radio, one controller could be heard clearing the vehicle to cross part of the tarmac en route to a different emergency — then trying to stop the truck.

Multiple media outlets have identified one pilot as Antoine Forest, from Coteau-du-Lac, Que., southwest of Montreal, and Toronto college Seneca Polytechnic has named the other pilot as 2023 alumnus Mackenzie Gunther.

Passengers said they felt the pilot slamming on the brakes, causing many to hit the seat in front of them, while a flight attendant was thrown onto the tarmac while still strapped in her seat.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will also take part in the U.S.-led investigation.

The crash has brought into focus the increasing pressures on air traffic controllers in the United States.