72 passengers lived. Two young Canadian heroes did not. This is their story.

I found myself welling up this morning, and I’ve been asking myself why. Why has this story got so far inside me? Why am I mourning two young men I never even met?

I think it’s this: There is something in the human condition—something ancient and aching—that breaks open when a young life is taken at the exact moment it is becoming everything it was meant to be.

Antoine Forest (24) and Mackenzie Gunther. Two young Canadian pilots. Vibrant. Dedicated. On the absolute verge of the lives they had spent every waking second training for.

We don’t just mourn the person. We mourn the world that was about to exist. The flights not yet flown. The passengers not yet carried safely home. We feel it because we know, in our bones, how fragile that "verge" is.

The Moment the World Stopped

On Saturday night, Jazz Aviation Flight 8646 from Montreal began its descent into LaGuardia. There were 72 passengers on board. As the plane landed, it struck a fire truck crossing the runway.

Passengers felt a jolt. They heard a grinding sound. The nose of the plane was torn apart.

72 passengers lived.

Antoine and Mackenzie did not.

One of those passengers, Rebecca Liquori, said it best: “They did everything they can to save us, and they didn’t save themselves.”

The Boy Who Belonged to the Sky

Antoine Forest was 16 years old when he flew his first plane. Not 16 and dreaming about it—16 and already in the sky.

Growing up in Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec, he and his brother called their great aunt Jeannette after school every single day. In Grade 11, he moved in with her specifically to learn better English. Not because he had to, but because he had decided he was going to be a pilot and he would do whatever it took.

He flew bush planes, spotted forest fires, and protected the wilderness. His instructor said he was destined for the big international routes. You can feel the shape of that life, can’t you? The absolute certainty of where it was going.

The Unanswered Text

Mackenzie Gunther, a 2023 Seneca College grad, was just starting his first professional job. He was a regular at a coffee shop in Peterborough. When the news of the crash broke, the shop owner, Daniel Biro, texted him just to check in.

He waited a day for a reply that never came.

A Story Every Canadian Should Know

That is the "why." That is why it hurts.

It is the cruel randomness of it paired with the heartbreaking nobility of it. The last thing these two young men did on this earth was exactly what they had spent their lives preparing to do. They ensured 72 strangers got home to their families, while they never made it home to theirs.

The CN Tower dimmed its lights. The flags at Seneca flew at half-mast.

But somewhere in Quebec today, a great aunt is remembering a little boy who used to cuddle up beside her at bedtime. A boy who set out to become a pilot and became one of the best.

Rest in peace, Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther. Two heroes. Two Canadians. We will not forget you. 🕊️🍁

Please share this. Their story needs to be told. Every Canadian should know the names of these two young men and the sacrifice they made. They deserve to be remembered.