A FLIGHT attendant was found still strapped to her seat after being flung more than 320ft from a passenger jet in a horror runway crash.
Solange Tremblay was discovered on the tarmac still secured in the jump seat she had been sitting in behind the pilots after the Air Canada Express plane smashed into a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.
Solange Tremblay was discovered on the tarmac still secured in the jump seatCredit: X/@SolangeTremblay
Air Canada Express plane smashed into a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia AirportCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
Solange was sat behind the pilots who have both tragically died in the incidentCredit: Facebook
The stewardess was thrown from the plane during the fatal collision but still somehow remained strapped to the seat.
Her daughter Sarah Lépine said her mum suffered multiple fractures to one leg and will need surgery – but called her survival “a total miracle.”
“I’m still trying to understand how all this happened, but she definitely has a guardian angel watching over her,” Lépine told Canadian news station TVA Nouvelles.
The aircraft’s pilot and co-pilot were killed and more than 40 people were injured when the jet collided with the emergency vehicle late on Sunday night.
A source told NBC affiliate WNBC that Tremblay had been sitting in the crew jump seat at the front of the aircraft when the crash happened.
After the collision, she was found still strapped into the seat which had been ripped out of the plane, according to CNN.
The CRJ-900 jet, operated by Jazz Aviation on behalf of Air Canada, had been carrying 72 passengers and four crew members on a flight from Montreal.
The plane was landing when it slammed into a Port Authority fire truck that had been crossing the runway while responding to another incident.
The nose of the aircraft was destroyed in the impact.
A Port Authority spokesperson said: “The pilot and co-pilot of the Jazz Aviation flight were pronounced deceased. Additionally, 41 people were transported to the hospital, 39 people on the aircraft and two ARFF officers.”
One of the dead pilots has been identified as Antoine Forest, from Coteau-du-Lac in Quebec.
The second pilot was later named as Mackenzie Gunther.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said both men were at the start of their careers.
Passengers onboard said the pilots likely prevented an even greater tragedy.
“I feel terrible about the pilots and I think they are honestly heroes,” passenger Joe Capio told The U.S. Sun.
“The pilots greeted us and were very nice. They saved everybody on that plane.”
The plane was landing when it slammed into a Port Authority fire truckCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
Solange was found still strapped into the seat which had been ripped out of the planeCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
Rebecca Liquori, another passenger, also praised the crew.
“They did everything they can to save us and they didn’t save themselves and they couldn’t save themselves,” she told The New York Times.
“Every time I close my eyes, my heart is racing, I just hear screaming.”
Liquori said the aircraft hit turbulence while descending before landing “very roughly.”
“It was like the plane jolted and you heard the pilot try to brake trying to prevent the collision,” she told News12 Long Island.
“As you heard the brake, a couple seconds later it was just a very loud boom!
“Everybody just jolted out of their seats. People hit their heads. People were bleeding.”
Capio said the crash came moments after what felt like a routine landing.
“We hit the ground, started to slow down,” he said.
“About 30 to 40 seconds into it… everyone ended up jerking forward abruptly. And then there was a loud crash and a bang.
“And then it felt like the plane was just skating down the runway for a good distance, until it came to a complete stop.
“Everyone was really confused and didn’t really know what was going on.
“The front of the plane was just warped sideways.”
Capio, who was sitting in the exit row, said he helped passengers escape.
“We all went on the wing and someone eventually came over and then we slid down the wing and they took us to the grass area on the tarmac,” he said.
Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said Tremblay’s survival was remarkable given the destruction to the aircraft’s cockpit area.
“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,” he said.
“It’s a very robust seat.
“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.”
Security camera footage later showed the moment the disaster unfolded.
The plane can be seen moving along the runway while the fire truck with flashing lights crosses directly into its path.
Seconds later, the aircraft’s nose slams into the vehicle, sending the truck tumbling.
Air traffic control audio also captured the frantic moments before the collision.
“Frontier 4195, just stop there please,” a controller was heard saying calmly.
Moments later the tone changed dramatically.
“Stop, stop, stop, stop, truck one. Stop, stop, stop. Stop truck one. Stop.”
After the crash, the controller was heard saying: “I tried to reach out to ’em. I stopped and we were dealing with an emergency earlier. I messed up.”
Another voice replied: “No man you did the best you could.”
Former Department of Transportation inspector general Mary Schiavo said the runway should have been clear.
“Once that aircraft was cleared to land … It owned that runway,” she told the New York Post.
“But giving a fire truck clearance to cross the runway after an aircraft has been cleared to run in this final is a clear error.
“There’s just no way around that.”
LaGuardia Airport was shut down after the crash to allow emergency crews to respond and investigators to examine the scene.
Officials later confirmed the airport reopened at 2pm on Monday, though operations were running at reduced capacity.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the investigation could take months.
“It’s incredibly sad. It’s troubling,” he said.
“It’s troubling that we had an aircraft hit a fire truck.”
He also urged travellers to wear seatbelts.
“When I was at the crash site it was just a reminder that when you’re traveling by air, you should wear your seatbelt,” Duffy said.
“If you see the videos of the air crash, wear your seatbelt when you’re on an airplane also in a car. Wear a seatbelt. As you see from last night, they do save lives.”
A video was released on social media showing the moment the plane collided with the fire truckCredit: X
