The crash killed both pilots while injuring dozens of passengers and two Port Authority firefighters from the fire truck.
Forest grew up in Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec, southwest of Montreal, and took his first flight at age 16, his great-aunt Jeannette Gagnier told the Star. He spent a year living with Gagnier and her husband in Hawkesbury, Ontario, during high school to sharpen his English and improve his chances of a career in aviation.
"He was always taking courses and flying. He never stopped," Gagnier said.
The fire truck was crossing the tarmac to respond to a separate emergency aboard a United Airlines flight whose pilot had reported an odor onboard, said Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates LaGuardia.
In the moments before the crash, radio transmissions captured an air traffic controller urgently ordering the truck to halt—"Stop, Truck 1. Stop"—before frantically trying to divert the incoming plane. About 20 minutes after the crash, the controller could be heard saying, "We were dealing with an emergency earlier. I messed up.”
Hammond confirmed the NTSB has formed several investigative groups, including teams focused on air traffic control, airport rescue and firefighting operations, aircraft systems, and structural wreckage documentation. She said the agency also began collecting information on tower staffing, crew training, and the firefighting vehicle's capabilities.
"We deal in facts. We don't speculate," Hammond said at the Monday press briefing. "We have a lot of information, but we need to be able to verify that information."
The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) was confirmed undamaged after being transported to NTSB labs in Washington, D.C., and work on the flight data recorder was expected to begin Tuesday, Hammond said. Port Authority and emergency responders cut a hole in the plane’s roof to retrieve both devices from the cockpit.
The 72 passengers and four crew members aboard the flight were not the only ones affected. Two Port Authority firefighters riding in the truck were also hurt, though their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, Garcia said. In total, around 40 passengers, crew members, and fire truck occupants were taken to area hospitals, with most released by Monday morning.
Several survivors recalled the terrifying final moments. Passenger Clément Lelièvre said the pilots braked "extremely hard" upon touchdown.
Passenger Rebecca Liquori, a former News12 Long Island employee who had traveled to Montreal for a family baby shower, described passengers being thrown from their seats and helping each other escape by sliding down a wing.
LaGuardia resumed partial operations at 2 p.m. Monday, though officials warned travelers to expect continued delays and cancellations.
Hammond said the runway would remain closed for several more days as NTSB investigators document and collect debris that stretched from taxiway delta across runway 4 and into surrounding areas.
The crash occurred during an already turbulent stretch for U.S. airports. A partial government shutdown has led to TSA staffing shortages and hours-long security lines nationwide—a situation that also complicated the NTSB's response, with one air traffic control specialist reportedly waiting in a TSA line for three hours before investigators could intervene.