(OSV News) ─ The fatal crash of an Air Canada jet at New York's La Guardia airport is a reminder of "the fragility of life," and the call to "care for one another with compassion," said Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks.
The archbishop issued a March 23 statement after Air Canada Flight 8646, landing from Montréal just after 11:30 pm March 22, collided with a moving fire truck on the runway.
The fire truck had been responding to a United aircraft that reported a strange odor.
Audio confirmed that seconds before the impact, an air traffic controller had repeatedly directed the truck -- initially cleared to cross the airport's runway number four -- to stop as the Air Canada craft landed on the strip. At the time of the crash, the plane was traveling at about 90 miles per hour.
The impact split the nose of the CRJ-900 regional jet, operated by Air Canada partner Jazz Aviation, killing 30-year-old pilot Antoine Forest and first officer Mackenzie Gunther.
Flight attendant Solange Tremblay was ejected and landed on the runway still strapped to her seat. Her daughter, Sarah Lépine, told Quebec news outlet TVA her mother's survival was a miracle.
Sgt. Michael Orsillo and Officer Adrian Baez, two Port Authority of New York and New Jersey employees on the fire truck, were treated at The New York-Presbyterian Hospital, with one released March 23 and the other kept for overnight observation.
A total of 41 passengers and crew members were also taken to area hospitals, with 32 released by the morning of March 23, said Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, at a March 23 news conference.
Authorities -- who have retrieved both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder -- continue to investigate the crash, with the airport shut for several hours before reopening around 2 p.m. March 23.
"We entrust the souls of the departed to God’s mercy, pray for healing and strength for all who were harmed, and express gratitude for those who have already been released from the hospital," said Archbishop Hicks.
He urged prayers for "the family and friends of those affected, as well as the first responders and all who continue to assist in the aftermath."
"We are reminded of the fragility of life and how we are called to care for one another with compassion," said Archbishop Hicks.
He added, "May Christ, who walks with us in every trial, bring comfort to those who mourn and peace to all who are suffering."
OSV News is awaiting responses to its request for comment from the Diocese of Valleyfield, Quebec, and the Diocese of Peterborough, Ontario, which include the areas from which Forest and Gunther respectively hailed.
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Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X @GinaJesseReina.
