An Air Canada flight attendant was violently thrown from the aircraft when it rammed into a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport on Sunday night — and was still strapped into her jumpseat when rescuers found her, sources said. She remarkably survived the devastating crash after being ejected from Flight 8646, which had taken off from Montreal.
The deadly collision took place on Runway 4 at around 11:40 p.m., when the jet rammed into the middle of the fire truck, killing both the pilot and co-pilot and sending the Port Authority officers inside it flying from their seats, sources said. At least 41 people were wounded, including two inside the fire truck.
Near-Death Experience
The fire truck had been responding to a separate emergency involving a United Airlines flight, where warning lights had been activated after a strange odor in the cabin made crew members feel unwell. The extent of the flight attendant's injuries remains unclear. Meanwhile, the two Port Authority officers — both members of the Aircraft Rescue Firefighter Unit — are reported to be in stable condition.
This came as a chilling video emerged that captured the moment the Air Canada Express aircraft sped down the runway before crashing into a fire truck.
Runway surveillance footage captured the Air Canada Bombardier CRJ-900 touching down at around 11:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, just as a fire truck was crossing directly in front of it on the tarmac.
The jet, moving at 150 mph in heavy rain, slammed into the truck, with video showing a massive spray of water as the impact hurled the vehicle across the runway. The footage surfaced alongside air traffic control audio, which revealed frantic warnings as officials repeatedly shouted "stop, stop, stop" to the fire truck in the moments leading up to the collision.
The truck had reportedly been cleared to cross the runway to respond to an unrelated issue involving another aircraft, but controllers appeared to realize the danger only seconds before the crash occurred.
"Truck One, stop, stop, stop!" an air traffic controller could be heard saying, before addressing the plane seconds later: "JAZZ 646, I see you collided with the vehicle. Just hold position. I know you can't move. Vehicles are responding to you now."
Bigger Tragedy Avoided at Last Moment
Air traffic control audio later revealed the dispatcher informing the crew of a nearby Frontier flight that the runway would be shut down, asking if they wanted to head back to the ramp. "We got stuff in progress for that man, that wasn't good to watch," one of the Frontier pilots responded.
The controller, sounding shaken, replied, "Yeah, I tried to reach out to them. We were dealing with an emergency, and I messed up," prompting the pilot to offer reassurance: "No, you did the best you could."
At the time of the crash, there were 72 passengers and four crew members on board the aircraft. Experts noted that the situation could have been far worse if the fire truck had struck the plane's fuel storage area, which might have led to a much higher number of casualties.
After the incident, the plane was seen sitting on the tarmac with its nose heavily damaged and the front section tilted upward. The flight was operated by Jazz Aviation, a regional carrier based in Nova Scotia, and was flying on behalf of Air Canada.
Photos from the scene showed significant damage, with Port Authority Police working to remove the front section of the plane. The agency's vehicle, involved in the collision, was also seen overturned, while emergency crews rushed onto the runway.
