Flight attendant survives after being ejected from plane in LaGuardia Airport crash

The Brief

A plane collided with a firetruck at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, causing a serious accident, killing two people and leaving dozens injured.
A flight attendant, who was strapped into her seat, was ejected from the aircraft during the crash.

NEW YORK – A flight attendant, who was ejected from a passenger plane at LaGuardia Airport, has survived, her daughter said Monday.

Flight attendant ejected from plane

What they’re saying:

It’s a “total miracle,” Sarah Lepine told Canadian news station TVA Nouvelles.

She said her mother, Solange Tremblay, had multiple fractures to one leg and will need surgery but otherwise was OK. An aviation safety expert said she likely was helped by being in a seat with a four-point restraint used by crew members.

“I’m still trying to understand how all this happened,” Lepine said, “but she definitely has a guardian angel watching over her.”

Earlier Monday, sources told FOX 5 NY’s Lisa Evers that a flight attendant who was strapped into her seat was ejected. She was told that her condition was not known at that time.

FOX 5 NY’s Lisa Evers has the latest.

Aviation safety expert on flight attendant’s survival

Dig deeper:

Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti, too, called Tremblay’s survival a miracle 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,” said Guzzetti, a former federal crash investigator.

“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.”

LaGuardia plane crash: 2 dead, dozens injured

The backstory:

LaGuardia Airport remained closed until 2 p.m. Monday after two pilots were killed in an overnight collision when Air Canada Express Flight 8646 struck a rescue vehicle after landing.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, as well as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, provide an update on the deadly LaGuardia Airport collision.

In total, 41 people, including passengers, crew members and PAPD officers were transported to nearby hospitals.

The crash on the airport’s runway claimed the two lives, the pilot and first officer of the Air Canada Express CRJ-900, which was landing in New York on its way from Montreal.

Officials say 32 have already been released, while several others remain hospitalized with serious injuries. The PAPD sergeant and officer inside the crash vehicle are in stable condition.