An Air Canada flight attendant who survived being ejected from a plane during a deadly collision at New York’s LaGuardia Airport has been identified as Solange Tremblay. The incident occurred on March 22 when Air Canada/Jazz flight 8646, inbound from Montreal, collided with a Port Authority firetruck on the runway, killing both pilots and injuring dozens.
Tremblay, a 26-year veteran flight attendant, was strapped into her jump seat when she was thrown from the aircraft. Her daughter, Sarah Lepine, shared details of her mother’s injuries in a GoFundMe campaign, describing two shattered legs, a fractured spine, and multiple surgeries. Tremblay remains hospitalized in New York, where she continues to recover.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the crash, focusing on the airport’s runway alerting system, which did not issue a warning before the collision. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy stated that the system, known as ASDE-X, failed to alert because the firetruck lacked a transponder. The Air Canada flight was carrying over 70 passengers and four crew members.
Lepine called her mother’s survival a “total miracle” and emphasized the severity of her injuries, including open fractures requiring metal plates and potential spine surgery. The GoFundMe campaign has raised over $133,000 to support Tremblay’s medical expenses.
The crash occurred when the regional jet collided with a fire truck responding to an issue on another plane. The NTSB’s investigation is ongoing, with no immediate findings released on the cause of the collision.