A flight attendant on an Air Canada aircraft that collided with a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport Sunday night survived being thrown more than 300 feet from the plane, a result aviation experts say may be tied to the design of onboard safety equipment, as reported by The New York Post.
Solange Tremblay was seated in a jump seat at the time of the crash involving Flight 8646, which struck a Port Authority fire truck around 11:40 p.m. as the emergency vehicle was responding to another incident.
According to her daughter, Tremblay was ejected from the aircraft during the impact but survived with a fractured leg.
Watch how Air Canada Collided With a Fire Truck at LaGuardia
Sunday night, March 22, 2026. LaGuardia Airport is already stretched thin. A United Airlines flight has aborted its takeoff after an anti-ice warning light comes on, flight attendants in the back are feeling ill from… pic.twitter.com/eQyRL9ebmt — Dami’ Adenuga (@DAMIADENUGA) March 24, 2026
Jeff Guzzetti, a former federal crash investigator, said the structure and restraint system of the jump seat likely played a significant role in her survival.
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“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.
“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.”
Tremblay’s daughter, Sarah Lepine, described the incident as extraordinary while speaking to Canadian outlet TVA Nouvelles.
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“I’m still trying to understand how all this happened,” Lepine said, “but she definitely has a guardian angel watching over her.”
Lepine said her mother remained secured in the seat even after being ejected from the aircraft.
“At the moment of impact, her seat was ejected more than 100 meters (328 feet) from the plane. They found her and she was still strapped into her seat,” she said.
#BREAKING : ‘Miracle Survival’: Flight Attendant Lives After Mid-Airport Collision at LaGuardia Airport
A flight attendant miraculously survived after an Air Canada Jazz CRJ-900 collided with a fire truck while landing at LaGuardia Airport. The crew member, identified as… pic.twitter.com/31ZiZsPWop — upuknews (@upuknews1) March 24, 2026
The crash resulted in multiple fatalities and injuries. The pilot, Antoine Forest, and copilot, Mackenzie Gunther, were killed when the front of the aircraft collided with the fire truck on Runway 4.
Video from the scene showed the aircraft striking the emergency vehicle, leaving the truck heavily damaged and destroying the front section of the plane.
Officials reported that 41 of the 76 passengers and crew members on board were taken to hospitals following the crash. Most of those injuries were described as minor.
Authorities said the fire truck had been cleared to cross the runway while responding to a separate emergency involving another aircraft that had aborted its takeoff.
Audio from air traffic control captured a controller acknowledging an error shortly after the collision, stating he “messed up.”
The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into the incident. Chair Jennifer Homendy said Tuesday that the cause of the crash is still being determined and cautioned against attributing blame prematurely.
“We have found in all of our investigations that it is not a single error that led to a terrible tragedy,” Homendy told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”
A flight attendant who survived the plane crash at LaGuardia “was THROWN out of the plane while still trapped in her seat.”
The pilots who died trying to save everyone’s lives have been ID’d: Captain Antoine Forest First Officer Mackenzie Gunther RIP pic.twitter.com/ieunMLkNP9 — Paul A. Szypula (@Bubblebathgirl) March 24, 2026
She added that it is likely there were “multiple failures” that contributed to the crash and that it remains “too early” to determine the exact sequence of events that led to the collision.
The investigation remains ongoing as officials work to determine how the aircraft and emergency vehicle ended up on the same runway at the same time.
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