A dramatic incident at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Sunday night has left aviation experts astounded after a flight attendant survived being ejected from an Air Canada plane during a collision with a fire truck. This incident, described by many as a “total miracle,” has captured international attention.
The aircraft, a Jazz Aviation flight operating as part of Air Canada’s service from Montreal, was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members at the time of the accident. According to officials, the plane collided with a fire truck on the runway during the landing process.
Authorities reported that the fire truck was crossing the runway shortly before midnight, having been cleared to respond to another aircraft that had reported an onboard issue. Air traffic control recordings reveal a controller frantically trying to alert the vehicle to halt just before the collision occurred.
The crash resulted in the cockpit being severed, tragically claiming the lives of the pilot and co-pilot, who were both Canadian nationals. The impact also led to injuries among dozens of individuals. Around 40 passengers and crew, along with two occupants from the fire truck, were transported to nearby hospitals for treatment, officials confirmed.
In a poignant image, officials were seen investigating the crash site on Monday, March 23, 2026, where the Air Canada jet came to rest after the collision with a Port Authority fire truck. This incident occurred shortly after the plane landed on Sunday night in New York. Solange Tremblay, the flight attendant who survived the ordeal, is pictured alongside this investigation scene. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig; Facebook/Solange Tremblay)
Remarkably, flight attendant Solange Tremblay was still secured in her seat when she was thrown from the aircraft during the impact, according to her family. Her survival is being hailed as nothing short of miraculous.
Tremblay’s daughter, Sarah Lepine, told Canadian news station TVA Nouvelles what happened to her mother was a “total miracle.” Â
She said her mother had multiple fractures on one leg and will need surgery but was otherwise OK.
“I’m still trying to understand how all this happened,” Lepine said, “but she definitely has a guardian angel watching over her.”
An Air Canada Express CRJ-900 sits on the runway after colliding with a Port Authority fire truck at LaGuardia Airport in New York, on March 23, 2026. (Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images)
Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said Tremblay’s survival was remarkable given the extent of the damage, particularly to the front of the aircraft.
A former federal crash investigator, Guzzetti told The Associated Press that Tremblay was likely helped by being in a seat with a four-point restraint used by crew members.
“The flight attendant’s seat is kind of a jump seat that folds down and is bolted to the wall, the same wall that the cockpit utilizes,” said Guzzetti.
Emergency crews work around a ground vehicle following a collision between the vehicle and an Air Canada Express jet at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York, on March 23, 2026. (REUTERS/Bing Guan)
“It’s a very robust seat,” he added. “It’s designed to withstand probably more crash loads than passenger seats because you need the flight attendant to help passengers get out of an airplane after a crash.”
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are examining coordination between air traffic control and ground vehicles as a key focus of the probe. Officials said the runway is expected to remain closed for days as crews sift through extensive debris and analyze recovered flight recorders.
