Loading...
US3 min(s) read
Published 10:13 24 Mar 2026 GMT
The daughter of a flight attendant who was thrown from a plane during a deadly Air Canada crash has shared how her mom was found alive in what she called a "miracle".
As widely reported, on Saturday (March 22), at around 11:40PM, the aircraft, operated by Jazz Air, crashed into a fire truck as it landed on Runway 4 at LaGuardia Airport in New York.
The truck had reportedly been dispatched to assist a United Airlines flight that had aborted takeoff due to an anti-ice warning, with crew reporting an odor in the cockpit and flight attendants feeling unwell, per CBS News.
Chilling audio from air traffic control revealed the tense moments before the crash.
The fire truck had initially been cleared to cross the runway, but the situation quickly escalated.
One controller could be heard urgently shouting: "Truck 1, stop, stop, stop."
Despite the warning, the aircraft collided with the vehicle at high speed, causing severe damage to the nose of the plane.
In the immediate aftermath, the controller told the flight: "JAZZ 646, I see you collided with the vehicle. Just hold position. I know you can't move. Vehicles are responding to you now," cited by The Independent.
Among those on board was Solange Tremblay, a veteran flight attendant with 26 years of experience at Jazz.
She survived after being ejected more than 100 metres from the aircraft while still strapped into her seat.
"It’s a complete miracle. At the moment of impact, her seat was ejected more than 100 metres from the plane. They found her and she was still strapped into her seat," her daughter, Sarah Lépine, told Quebec’s TVA News.
Lepine said her mother suffered multiple bone fractures and was taken to the hospital for surgery on a broken leg. "She had a guardian angel watching over her. It could have been much worse," she added.
Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti also described her survival as extraordinary when "compared to the destruction of the nose of the airplane".
"The flight attendant’s seat is kind of a jump seat that folds down and is bolted to the wall, the same wall that the cockpit utilizes," Guzzetti, a former federal crash investigator, said.
"It’s a very robust seat,” he continued. "It’s designed to withstand probably more crash loads than passenger seats because you need the flight attendant to help passengers get out of an airplane after a crash."
There were 72 passengers and four crew members on board Flight 8646 from Montreal to LaGuardia.
The pilot and co-pilot were killed in the crash, while at least 41 people were taken to nearby hospitals, including passengers and two Port Authority police officers who suffered broken bones but are expected to survive.
"The pilot and co-pilot of the Jazz Aviation flight were pronounced deceased," a Port Authority spokesperson confirmed to PEOPLE. "Additionally, 41 people were transported to the hospital, 39 people on the aircraft and two ARFF officers."
Air Canada released a statement on Monday (March 23), stating: "We are deeply saddened by the loss of two Jazz employees, and our deepest condolences go out to the entire Jazz community and their families."
An investigation by the FAA is ongoing.
