The owner of a Toronto coffee shop, a favored spot of Air Canada pilot Mackenzie Gunther, shared with The Post on Tuesday that he attempted to contact his regular customer after learning about the plane crash at LaGuardia Airport.
“When I didn’t receive a response after a day, I feared the worst,” expressed Daniel Biro, who owns and operates Rapid Ends Coffee in Peterborough, Ontario.
Tragically, Gunther and his co-pilot, Antoine Forest, lost their lives in the crash on Sunday.
“Mackenzie was an incredible young man. He graduated just a few years ago and was a regular visitor while he was in school,” Biro recalled, noting that the pilot had recently married.
“He had his whole life ahead of him. It’s incredibly tragic.”
Gunther and Forest died when their jet collided with a Port Authority fire truck on a runway at the Queens airport shortly before midnight on Sunday.
More than 40 passengers and crew were also injured in the devastating accident.
Biro mentioned that Gunther had been at the coffee shop just two weeks prior, usually ordering a cold brew, black, or an espresso over ice.
The shop owner described Gunther as a coffee “purist.”
Latest coverage on the deadly Air Canada crash at LaGuardia Airport
Biro mentioned that over the years, he had occasional conversations with Gunther about his aspirations, learning how enthusiastic the young man had been about becoming a pilot.
“Flying was his passion and it was a life taken too soon,” Biro lamented.
Biro announced on Facebook that the café intends to honor Gunther by creating a signature drink combining his favorite Haitian coffee with cold brew, which will be offered for free along with cards for customers to sign for his widow.
“He was an upright young man,” the coffee shop owner remarked.
