In a rare and deeply concerning runway collision at one of America’s busiest airports, two experienced Air Canada pilots lost their lives when their regional jet slammed into a speeding Port Authority fire truck during landing at LaGuardia Airport late Sunday night — and now a veteran captain with over 30 years in the cockpit is calling the circumstances “very unusual” and “highly disturbing.”

The deadly crash occurred around 11:40 p.m. on March 22, 2026, when Air Canada Express Flight AC8646, a Bombardier CRJ-900 operating from Montreal, touched down on Runway 4 and collided violently with an Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) vehicle that was crossing the active runway in response to a separate smoke report on another part of the field. The impact was catastrophic: the nose of the jet crumpled on contact, debris scattered across the tarmac, and black smoke billowed into the night sky as flames threatened to engulf the aircraft.

Captain Antoine Forest, 42, and First Officer MacKenzie Gunther, 31, were killed instantly in the violent collision. Miraculously, all 72 passengers and the two surviving cabin crew members managed to evacuate, many with injuries but alive — a testament to the pilots’ final efforts to keep the plane under control long enough for a successful escape.

Speaking exclusively to CBS News 24/7 Mornings, Captain Laura Einsetler — a seasoned commercial airline pilot with more than three decades of experience flying large jets — did not hold back her shock at the sequence of events.

“It’s very disturbing to see, because this is highly unusual,” Einsetler said. “As a pilot for major airlines with large aircraft, we have the priority on the runway. So for those crew members to see at the last second — if they saw the emergency equipment at all — is just very concerning.”

Einsetler emphasized that coordination between air traffic control and ground emergency vehicles is supposed to be ironclad. Runway incursions involving emergency vehicles are supposed to be extremely rare, especially during active landings. “We train for this constantly,” she added. “The protocols are strict for a reason. To have an ARFF truck crossing an active runway while a plane is landing… that just shouldn’t happen.”

The veteran pilot’s comments come as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) launches a full-scale investigation. Early evidence suggests a breakdown in communication between the control tower and the responding fire crew, who were rushing to a separate “odor of smoke” call elsewhere on the airport grounds. Air traffic control audio reportedly captures urgent warnings of “Stop truck 1! Stop!” in the final seconds before impact — too late to prevent the collision.

LaGuardia Airport, known for its tight layout and heavy traffic, has a history of ground incidents, but a fatal collision between a landing aircraft and an emergency vehicle is almost unheard of in modern commercial aviation. Einsetler noted that pilots rely on air traffic controllers to keep the runway clear during critical phases of flight. “When you’re on short final or rolling out after touchdown, your focus is on the runway ahead. You trust that the ground movement is coordinated and safe. That trust is what keeps us all alive.”

Passengers aboard the flight described a scene of pure terror followed by remarkable composure from the surviving crew. “We hit something extremely hard — the whole plane shook violently,” one survivor told reporters. “There was immediate smoke and chaos, but the flight attendants stayed incredibly calm and got everyone off the plane as fast as possible. Those pilots bought us the time we needed.”

The tragedy has sent shockwaves through the aviation industry and the tight-knit Air Canada pilot community. Captain Forest was remembered as a devoted family man and highly skilled aviator with thousands of hours on regional jets. First Officer Gunther was seen as a rising talent with a bright future ahead. Both men are being hailed as heroes who prioritized passenger safety in their final moments.

Air Canada released a statement expressing profound sorrow and confirming full cooperation with investigators. The airline has also offered support to the pilots’ families and the injured passengers.

The crash forced LaGuardia to shut down for several hours, causing a cascade of delays across the Northeast corridor. Operations have since resumed at reduced capacity, but the emotional toll remains heavy.

Captain Einsetler’s stark assessment — calling the incident “very unusual” and “very concerning” — has resonated widely. In an industry where safety is built on layers of redundancy and strict protocol, a runway incursion involving emergency equipment during an active landing represents a serious breakdown that demands answers.

As the NTSB investigation continues — examining flight data recorders, cockpit voice recordings, ground communications, and vehicle movements — the aviation community is already calling for immediate reviews of ground vehicle protocols, especially during emergency responses at congested airports like LaGuardia.

For now, the focus remains on the two pilots who gave their lives while protecting everyone else on board. Their final actions, according to survivors and preliminary data, were calm and professional — exactly what pilots train for in the worst-case scenario.

Captain Laura Einsetler’s sobering words serve as both tribute and warning: what happened at LaGuardia should never have happened. The fact that it did makes it not just tragic, but deeply disturbing.

The investigation is expected to take months, but one thing is already clear — two heroic pilots are gone, dozens of passengers survived because of their skill, and the entire industry is now asking how such a “very unusual” and preventable horror could occur on a busy runway in one of the world’s most watched airspace.