Share and Follow
Astonishingly, a flight attendant emerged alive after being ejected from an Air Canada aircraft following a collision with a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport late Sunday night. The incident is being described as a “total miracle.”
The plane, operated by Jazz Aviation on behalf of Air Canada, was en route from Montreal and carried 72 passengers along with four crew members when it struck the fire vehicle upon landing, officials confirmed.
According to authorities, the fire truck was crossing the runway close to midnight, having been cleared to address an issue reported by another aircraft. Air traffic control recordings revealed a controller’s urgent attempts to halt the vehicle just before the crash occurred.
The collision resulted in the cockpit being torn apart, tragically claiming the lives of the pilot and co-pilot, both of whom were Canadian. The incident left dozens injured, with approximately 40 passengers and crew, as well as two individuals in the fire truck, transported to hospitals for treatment.
On Monday, March 23, 2026, officials were seen investigating the crash site where the Air Canada jet came to a stop following its collision with a Port Authority firetruck at LaGuardia Airport. The image shows the aftermath, including flight attendant Solange Tremblay. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig; Facebook/Solange Tremblay)
Flight attendant Solange Tremblay was still strapped into her seat when she was ejected from the aircraft during the collision, according to her family.
Tremblay’s daughter, Sarah Lepine, told Canadian news station TVA Nouvelles what happened to her mother was a “total miracle.” Â
She said her mother had multiple fractures on one leg and will need surgery, but was otherwise OK.
“I’m still trying to understand how all this happened,” Lepine said, “but she definitely has a guardian angel watching over her.”
An Air Canada Express CRJ-900 sits on the runway after colliding with a Port Authority fire truck at LaGuardia Airport in New York, on March 23, 2026. (Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images)
Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said Tremblay’s survival was remarkable given the extent of the damage, particularly to the front of the aircraft.
A former federal crash investigator, Guzzetti told The Associated Press that Tremblay was likely helped by being in a seat with a four-point restraint used by crew members.
“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,” said Guzzetti.
Emergency crews work around a ground vehicle following a collision between the vehicle and an Air Canada Express jet at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York, on March 23, 2026. (REUTERS/Bing Guan)
“It’s a very robust seat,” he added. “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.”
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are examining coordination between air traffic control and ground vehicles as a key focus of the probe. Officials said the runway is expected to remain closed for days as crews sift through extensive debris and analyze recovered flight recorders.