- An Air Canada attendant was thrown 330 feet from plane after crash with truck at New York airport
- She survived the crash but suffered multiple fractures to one leg
- Her survival is "a total miracle", her daughter said
An Air Canada flight attendant was reportedly thrown 330 feet from the aircraft while still strapped into her jump seat after the crash at New York's LaGuardia Airport late Sunday.
Solange Tremblay, the lead flight attendant, suffered multiple fractures to one leg and will need surgery, her daughter, Sarah Lepine, told Canadian news station TVA Nouvelles.
“She was still strapped to her seat” when reached by first responders, Lepine said after speaking to her following the crash.
Her survival is "a total miracle", she said.
"I'm still trying to understand how all this happened, but she definitely has a guardian angel watching over her," Lepine said.
The Air Canada Express CRJ-900 plane, carrying 72 passengers and four crew members from Montreal, collided with a fire truck while landing at LaGuardia Airport, killing the pilot and copilot and injuring several others.
The fire truck was crossing the tarmac just before midnight after being given permission to check on another plane that had aborted its takeoff due to a "strange odour".
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Surveillance footage captured the moment the plane smashed into the vehicle as it crossed its path, sending both hurtling down the runway.
According to air traffic control audio, a controller can be heard telling the craft that a fire truck was en route and clearing a truck to cross a runway. Moments later, he can be heard saying: "Stop, stop, stop, truck 1 stop, truck 1, stop."
Roughly 20 minutes later, he appears to blame himself. "We were dealing with an emergency earlier," the controller said. "I messed up."
Air Canada Passenger Narrates New York Airport Crash
Narrating the deadly Air Canada plane crash, a passenger said the jet hit turbulence while descending, and she then felt it brake hard and heard a loud boom.
"Everybody just jolted out of their seats. People hit their heads. People were bleeding," Rebecca Liquori told a news channel.
Damaged Air Canada Express jet seen after collision with a ground vehicle at New York's LaGuardia Airport
Photo Credit: Reuters
She said passengers helped each other slide down a wing.
"I'm just happy to be alive," Liquori, who had gone to Montreal for a cousin's baby shower, said.
"I would have never pictured a one-hour flight that I've done countless times ... ending like this," she said.
Air Canada Plane Pilots Identified
The two Air Canada pilots have been identified as Antoine Forest and MacKenzie Gunther.
They were both based out of Canada.
Jeannette Gagnier, the great aunt of Antoine Forest, said he always wanted to be a pilot. His LinkedIn page showed he had worked for two airlines in the past five years.
Antoine Forest was reportedly aged 30
The two young pilots had just started their careers, said Bryan Bedford, head of the Federal Aviation Administration.
"It's an absolute tragedy," he told a press conference.
The crash comes as US aviation faces chronic shortages of air traffic controllers and a separate shortfall of security officers due to a partial government shutdown that has led to delays and long security lines across airports in the country.
