One of the two pilots killed in the Air Canada crash at LaGuardia has been identified as Antoine Forest, 30. A flight attendant who was thrown nearly 330 feet from the aircraft during Sunday night's crash and survived has now been identified, as investigators continue looking into how the plane, carrying 72 passengers, crashed into a fire truck on the runway at around 130 mph.
Chilling photos from the scene showed the aircraft badly crumpled on the runway after the Montreal-bound flight collided with an airport vehicle at around 11:40 p.m. on Sunday. Flight attendant Solange Tremblay narrowly escaped death during the crash after she was thrown from the plane.
Tragic End
Tremblay's daughter, Sarah Lépine, told TVA Nouvelles that she suffered a broken leg that required surgery, but thankfully did not sustain any other serious injuries. "It's nothing short of a miracle," Lépine said, noting her mother had been strapped into her jump seat during the crash.
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.
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.
Moment of Death
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."
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."
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.
