The owner of a Peterborough, Ont., coffee shop frequented by one of the Air Canada pilots who died in Sunday’s crash the past four years is remembering him as a “very kind” man with a “love for coffee.”
Daniel Biro, co-owner of Rapids End Coffee Roastery, said Mackenzie Gunther visited the coffee shop weekly during his time in Seneca College’s Honours Bachelor of Aviation Technology program.
“He shared a love for coffee and that’s how we met,” Biro said. “While he was doing his schooling we would, I guess he’d come in here weekly, and we’d have coffee and we’d talk about his coffee gear.
“He was very kind and even after he graduated and moved for his job, he still ordered our coffee and he would still come in.”
The coffee roastery set up a portrait of Gunther near the cash register and a card for people to sign, whether they knew the pilot personally or not.
Biro said he knew Gunther for about four years, adding he saw him two-and-a-half weeks ago with his wife when they visited the shop.
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“Strange when you part to be like, ‘OK see you next time,’ and you just think you will,” he said.
Gunther was the first officer on the Air Canada Jazz flight that collided with a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport on Sunday night, alongside pilot Antoine Forest of Coteau-du-Lac, Que.
According to Seneca College, Gunther joined Jazz Aviation through its Pathways Program, allowing him to join the airline immediately after graduation to begin his professional flying career.
The flight was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members, with more than 40 people hospitalized following the crash. Gunther and Forest both died in the incident.
When he heard about the crash, Biro said he first messaged Gunther on Instagram but when he didn’t hear back, he sent a text with the same messsage.
It was early Tuesday morning that Biro said he learned from his wife the fate of his friend.
“We just were like.. super sad because we had kind of been, you always have a gut feeling when you know someone you know is flying that route, and then… it was bad,” Biro told Global News.
Biro said it may be a way for him to deal with his own grief, but wanted to make sure to honour his friend.
“His life ended too soon and his family deserves to know we cared about him,” Biro said.
—with files from Global News’ Adriana Fallico and Marc Woodhouse
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
