NEW YORK (AP) — In a remarkable twist of fate, Solange Tremblay, a flight attendant still buckled in her seat, survived being thrown from an Air Canada jet following its collision with a fire truck at New York's LaGuardia Airport over the weekend.
Tremblay's daughter, Sarah Lepine, expressed her astonishment in an interview, describing her mother's survival as a total miracle. Despite suffering multiple fractures to one leg, Tremblay is expected to recover after surgery. An aviation safety expert noted that her chances of survival were significantly boosted due to the four-point restraint in crew member seats.
I’m still trying to understand how all this happened, but she definitely has a guardian angel watching over her, said Lepine.
The collision occurred while the Air Canada flight, carrying over 70 passengers, was landing. The nose of the aircraft sustained catastrophic damage, resulting in the tragic deaths of the pilot and copilot. Aviation expert Jeff Guzzetti emphasized the rarity of such survival in light of the plane’s destruction, attributing Tremblay's safety to the robust design of her jump seat, which is intended to withstand more severe crash loads than standard passenger seats.
This incident echoes similar scenarios in aviation history. In 2013, two flight attendants endured injuries after being thrown from an Asiana Airlines flight that crashed into a seawall while landing at San Francisco International Airport, resulting in fatalities among passengers.
