'Dancing With the Stars' Alum Charlotte Jørgensen Was Among the Passengers Aboard the Plane Involved in the Laguardia Incident

She walked away from one of the most terrifying runway disasters in recent memory, and the reason she's alive, she says, is because two people made sure she would be.

"Dancing With the Stars" alum Charlotte Jørgensen was among the passengers aboard Air Canada Flight 8646 on the night of March 22, 2026, when the aircraft collided with a Port Authority fire truck on the runway at LaGuardia Airport.

The crash injured more than 40 people and sent shockwaves far beyond the aviation world. For days, Jørgensen said nothing publicly. Now, a week later, she has revealed why she survived that night and the people she holds closest to her heart because of it.

The Landing That Went Wrong

Jørgensen had spent the weekend in Montreal before boarding Air Canada Flight 8646 bound for LaGuardia Airport in New York City.

The flight was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members when it struck a Port Authority fire truck on the runway during landing, a collision that would claim two lives and injure more than 40 others.

The fire truck had been dispatched to assist with a separate aircraft emergency already unfolding at the airport that night.

A United Airlines flight had declared an emergency after flight attendants fell ill from an unusual odor on board, triggering a chain of ground-level coordination that — according to air traffic control audio — became increasingly strained in the minutes before impact.

At 7:10 in the recording, a voice identified as "Truck 1" is heard. Seven seconds later, a blunt warning follows: "Truck 1, stop." What came next is barely audible — and then the audio descends into chaos.

Inside the Cabin

Passengers described the final seconds before impact as a jarring shift from calm to catastrophe. Rebecca Liquori, seated near an emergency exit, told The New York Times that she heard the pilots fighting to stop the plane.

"The pilot was trying to brake to slow the plane down to avoid the crash, and that made, like, just a huge noise," she said. "I've never heard it before. It was like a grinding."

Seconds later came the collision. "We just got jolted. We got thrown forward. And everybody's screaming," Liquori added.

Another passenger, Joe Capio, didn't mince words about the crew. "They saved everybody on that plane," he told The Sun, calling them "honestly heroes."

A passenger who identified himself on Reddit as having been on the flight posted images from the tarmac and described the final seconds before impact.

In a follow-up comment, he wrote: "We had just touched down and maybe about 30 seconds later we all felt a jolt forward, then a loud bang, and what felt like sliding sideways down the runway."

He continued, "I'm sorry if I'm not using proper terms here. But someone did say the pilot tried to reverse thrust at the last second. Honestly, they likely saved our lives. I wish I could tell their families how thankful I am. They are heroes ❤️."

The Ultimate Sacrifice

For Jørgensen, the experience didn't fully hit until the days that followed. In a personal post shared to her Instagram a week after the crash, she opened up about what she went through — and who she holds responsible for the fact that she's still here.

"I owe my life to two brave souls Captain Antoine Forest and First Officer Mackenzie Gunther - they made the ultimate sacrifice so that we all could live…. I am indebted to them and my thoughts are with their families," she wrote.

She described feeling nothing in the immediate aftermath — adrenaline masking the full weight of what had happened. But the days that followed were difficult on every level.

"On the night I felt nothing as adrenaline was rushing through my body but the days after has been tough - physically, mentally and emotionally," she said.

Back home, her children Nelson and Vivianna have been by her side as she heals. She also extended her gratitude to her "Dancing With the Stars" family for their outreach and support.

Back Home, Still Processing

For Jørgensen, home is where the healing begins — slowly. She said she's grateful for the love she's received and is taking the time she needs to recover. Her final words in the post were simple and warm: "I send you all an extra warm hug."

But behind that warmth is something heavier — a survivor's knowledge that she made it because someone else didn't. Two pilots, on an otherwise routine night, made decisions in the final seconds that the passengers are still trying to find words for.

"They did everything they can to save us and they didn't save themselves and they couldn't save themselves," Liquori said — and for Jørgensen, that truth is one she'll carry long after the bruises heal.

The Two Men She Credits

They came from different corners of Canada, took different roads to the cockpit. On that Sunday evening, they found themselves on the same flight, and what the passengers would later say about them is more than any obituary could.

The Air Canada Express CRJ-900 that collided with a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport late Sunday had two pilots aboard. Both were killed when the plane struck a Port Authority vehicle on the runway, making them the only fatalities in a crash that sent 41 people to the hospital.

In the days since, details about who these men were — where they came from and how hard they worked to reach that cockpit — have surfaced. So has something a passenger said from the tarmac, still shaken, that reframes the entire tragedy.

Who Was Captain Antoine Forest?

The pilot at the controls was Antoine Forest, a Quebec native from Coteau-du-Lac, a small town southwest of Montreal, about 20 kilometres east of the Ontario border.

His path to the cockpit was anything but a straight line. According to his LinkedIn profile, he began with Air Saguenay, flying bush planes and training as an aircraft maintenance engineer apprentice.

He later worked at Canadian Helicopters Limited before moving to Exact Air, where he rose from apprentice to captain. In December 2022, he joined Jazz Aviation LP as a first officer based in Montreal — the role he held at the time of the crash.

His Facebook page showed a man who lived fully off the clock, too: hiking, kayaking, sailing, and rock climbing all featured regularly.

Forest had been in a relationship with Kahina Gagnon since May 2022. She is also a professional pilot — currently a first officer at Pacific Coastal Airlines and a former Air Inuit pilot — and holds an officer position with the Canadian Armed Forces.

His hometown reacted quickly. Coteau-du-Lac's municipal council posted its condolences on the city's social media platforms.

Forest was 29 years old. Sitting to his right that night was the first officer, a man who had only just begun his own journey.

Who Was First Officer Mackenzie Gunther?

The co-pilot was Mackenzie Gunther, a young aviator who had only recently begun his professional career. Gunther graduated from Seneca Polytechnic with an Honours Bachelor of Aviation Technology in 2023.

Through the Jazz Aviation Pathways Program, he moved directly from graduation into the first officer seat — making Flight 8646 part of what was still a very new chapter.

To Daniel Biro, owner and roaster of Rapid Ends Coffee in Peterborough, Ontario, Gunther wasn't just a name in the news — he was the familiar face who came in weekly during his school days.

"MacKenzie was an amazing young man. He just graduated a couple years ago. He was a regular here every week while he was in school," Biro said, adding that the pilot had been recently married.

That detail — recently married — makes the loss feel even heavier. "He had his whole life for him. It's super tragic."

Gunther had stopped by just two weeks before the crash, ordering his usual: a cold brew, black, or an espresso over ice. A simple routine, now frozen in time.

For those who chatted with him across the counter, Gunther's dream was no secret. "That was his passion, flying. It was a life taken too young," Biro said.

Before aviation, his LinkedIn shows steady, unglamorous groundwork: a co-op stint as acting ramp lead at Porter Airlines in 2022, and seasonal landscaping work before that. He had been building toward this for years.

Seneca mourned him publicly, calling the news "tragic for our community." Flags at all Seneca campuses were lowered to half-mast on Tuesday, March 24, in his honor.

'It Broke My Heart' — Students React

At Seneca College in Toronto, the news hit hard. In a heartfelt statement shared by the school, the community made it clear just how deeply the loss is being felt. For current students, the tragedy feels especially close — a glimpse into a future that suddenly feels fragile. A student said:

"I am devastated. I heard the news, like yesterday. It broke my heart. So many people impacted [...] I'm so sorry."

Another student added, "Life's crazy. You can be expecting to have a normal life tomorrow, and your whole life can change, like, overnight. Prayers go out to the family, anyone who was involved in that. It's a rough situation. You never wish it happens to anybody."

Their words echo a chilling truth: this wasn't just a distant headline — it was someone who once sat in their classrooms.

Gunther's journey was only beginning. A recent graduate, newly married, and living out his dream in the cockpit — it was the kind of life people spend years building.

And yet, in a matter of moments, everything changed. What remains now are the small, vivid details: a favorite coffee order, a passion for flying, a text left unanswered. And for those who knew him best, those details are everything.