The bodies of two Air Canada pilots killed in a collision at New York’s LaGuardia Airport were returned to Canada on Thursday.
Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther died when their plane struck a fire truck while landing Sunday night. Fellow pilots and Canadian citizens honored the men as their remains were repatriated.
A makeshift memorial has been set up outside Montreal-Trudeau International Airport.
Capt. Tim Perry, president of the Air Line Pilots Association Canada, said the pilot community is mourning the two young aviators.
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“No family should go through this,” he said,
The destroyed Air Canada plane and the fire truck were towed from the crash site late Wednesday as the National Transportation Safety Board continues its investigation.
The agency said Thursday that the truck has been placed in an undisclosed, secure location and deferred to questions about the status of the plane to Air Canada, which didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The airline has said the plane would be placed in a hangar and that it would soon begin the process of reuniting passengers with their baggage and personal belongings.
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Michael Rousseau, the company's CEO, also apologized Thursday for his inability to express himself in French after facing calls to resign over his English-only message of condolence.
The crash happened late Sunday night as an Air Canada regional jet arriving from Montreal and carrying 76 people struck an airport fire truck that had initially been cleared to cross the runway to respond to a separate incident aboard another plane.
Roughly 40 people were treated at hospitals for injuries, including the two firefighters and a flight attendant who survived after being thrown onto the tarmac while still strapped in her seat. Most have since been released from the hospital.
