LaGuardia Miracle: Flight attendant survives 320-foot ejection after Air Canada Express flight hits fire truck

The tragic event of Air Canada Express Flight 8646 (operated by Jazz Aviation) shocked the aviation world on March 22 when a Bombardier CRJ-900 collided with a fire truck at New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA). Two young pilots sadly lost their lives There were 72 passengers and four crew onboard. The delayed flight was incoming from Montreal, and nothing unusual had occurred. It was the same as any other wet and misty evening, with mild turbulence ahead of the landing, according to at least one of the passengers. A fire truck had been called out to a United Airlines aircraft that had reported an odor in the cabin and was about to cross Runway 4. It was around 23:40 when the aircraft came in to land, and the pilots reportedly braked hard upon seeing the truck, according to passenger accounts. Many passengers hit their heads on the seat in front of them. However, many later said they believed that this action saved their lives. There was a grinding sound before the aircraft, which had been traveling at around 131 miles per hour, came to a stop.The air traffic controller saw what was about to occur, frantically and repeatedly calling for the fire truck to stop, but for some reason, they did not respond. There were two controllers in the control tower at the time. The aircraft's cockpit, nose and forward galley were ripped off when it hit the center of the fire truck. The truck tipped over, ejecting the two firefighters. The CRJ-900 has a low nose, and the pilots in the flight deck took the full force of the impact. Some passengers were bleeding and confused as to what had happened. One remembered that a flight attendant had announced just beforehand that, in the event of an emergency, they should leave all baggage behind and exit quickly. Passengers opened the overwing exit doors, climbed out onto the wing, and slid to the ground. The engines were off when first responders arrived to help with the evacuation. As the evacuation proceeded, the weight of the aircraft and moving passengers shifted the front of the aircraft upwards.Solange Tremblay was the lead flight attendant and was seated just outside the cockpit next to the exit door. She had been flying for Air Canada Express since 1999. By some miracle, she survived despite being ejected 320 feet from the aircraft. She was found on the tarmac, still strapped in her jumpseat. Along with the deaths of pilots Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther, 41 passengers and crew were injured and taken to local hospitals; 32 have since been released as of Monday night. Solange and the two firefighters were seriously injured. Solange was conscious and sustained severe injuries and is recovering in a hospital in New York. In a GoFundMe post that has raised more than $225,000 in Canadian dollars ($161K US), her daughter Sarah Lépine, described her survival as a "miracle." Solange shattered both legs and needed a series of surgeries to fix them with metal plates, according to her daughter's post. She also has a fractured spine and is waiting to see if more surgery is needed, and she needs skin grafts for the injuries caused by sliding down the tarmac. She has received one blood transfusion due to complications from the first surgery. It is expected that she will undergo further surgeries and have intensive rehabilitation to walk again. There are also concerns about her risk of infection. You can donate to the GoFundMe effort here."My mother dedicated her entire life as a flight attendant and was very proud of her work. She loved serving the public and helping them travel safely from their respective destinations," Lépine stated. "Right now, my mom needs your help. She is in New York for the foreseeable future for her recovery, where she remains in constant fear of sustaining further damage than she has already suffered. We are asking for your support to help my mom focus on what matters most- healing and getting through this."The FAA and NTSB, with the help of other agencies, are investigating exactly what happened. Investigators released details from the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) that the controllers had cleared both the aircraft to land and the fire truck to cross the runway. An NTSB spokesperson said that a ground radar system should have provided an alert before the collision but failed to do so. The fire truck also did not have a transponder, which could have helped the radar system detect it. At this stage, we should not speculate what caused the accident or place blame and wait for the results of the investigation. In most cases, there are multiple factors in any accident, and there is much more involved than we could ever know at this stage.