Air Canada passengers recount moment of deadly collision on LaGuardia runway
CBC
Air Canada passengers who were aboard Flight 8646 when the CRJ-900 aircraft struck a fire truck upon landing at New York's LaGuardia Airport on Sunday evening say the collision was sudden and forceful, and they may owe their lives to the pilots who died in the incident.
"Right as we hit the ground, we kind of felt, like, the brake was pretty hard and we all felt something was wrong," said passenger Jack Cabot, describing the moment of the collision to CBC News Network.
"And then, it was just this sudden, overwhelming, like, panic, because we'd hit something and there was nobody in control."
The crash occurred late Sunday evening.
The captain and the first officer were killed. Radio-Canada sources have identified the captain as Antoine Forest and the first officer as Mackenzie Gunther.
The flight, which was operated by Air Canada Express carrier Jazz Aviation, had taken off from Montreal Trudeau International Airport and then headed on to New York's LaGuardia.
Air Canada said the plane was carrying "approximately 72 passengers and four crew members," at the time of the crash.
The airline said it was "deeply saddened" by the death of the two pilots, offering condolences to "the entire Jazz community and their families."
Clément Lelièvre, a French national who was also a passenger on board the flight, said the pilots likely did what they could to save the lives of passengers.
"Just as the plane touched down, the pilot braked extremely hard," he told The Canadian Press.
"I don't know the circumstances, but I think he kind of saved our lives because he must have had incredible reflexes."
Authorities said more than 40 people were taken to hospital following the crash.
Flight attendant Solange Tremblay was among them. She was ejected with her seat from the plane and found by first responders near the wreckage, her daughter Sarah Lepine, told The Canadian Press.
Lepine said she spoke to her mother on Monday morning before Tremblay went in for surgery, with multiple fractures in her right leg.
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