Passenger on board Air Canada flight say pilot’s action saved their lives
A passenger from the Air Canada flight which collided with a fire truck has suggested that the pilots saved her life with their quick-thinking.
Both pilots, who have since been identified as Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther, tragically lost their lives in the accident on Sunday night at LaGuardia Airport in New York late on Sunday 22 March after a fire truck was caught on the runway as the plane landed from its flight from Montreal.
On a misty night, the fire crew had been responding to another plane's emergency when it failed to take off, when a miscommunication in the air traffic control centre seemingly leading to it being in the worst possible place.
CCTV footage has captured the moments before the impact, while released audio footage also sees a controller admit to messing up before sending emergency crews to assist those on the stricken flight.
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So far, only the two pilots are confirmed to have died in the incident but if it wasn't for their 'heroic' actions, then many more of the passengers on the plane could have also potentially lost their lives.
That's certainly the opinion of Air Canada passenger Rebecca Liquori, who shared her experience with the crash in an interview with NBC News.
“It was like a grinding sound. Then, a couple seconds after that, you just felt the collision,” she said. “It was like the loudest boom I’ve ever heard.”
The nurse, much like everyone else onboard, was left confused or hurt following the bang, but she knew that getting off the plane as quickly as possible was the most sensible plan.
She added: “We didn’t know what was going on, if the plane was going to combust. Everybody was scared. Everybody thought they were going to die.”
However, once it became clear what had happened, the mother-of-two paid tribute to the pilots' quick and life-saving reactions in breaking, which saw the plane hit the truck at between 25 and 30mph, rather than a far quicker and likely far deadlier speed.
The 35-year-old said: “I’m just so appreciative that they were able to save us, but I’m just so sad that they weren’t able to make it home to their families. I wouldn’t be here had it not been for the pilot acting quickly.”
Another passenger, simply identified as Joseph, also paid tribute to the pilots' final actions.
He said: “I fully believe that these two pilots, who unfortunately lost their lives, did everything in their power to stop the plane and slow it down at the very last minute. They deserve all the credit for being heroes that day.”
New York mayor Zohran Mamdani has since suggested that he will not rest until the investigation into the crash is complete, while he also thanked the emergency services for their hard work.
“I also want to commend those who were thrust into a frightening accident and reacted not only with composure, but by extending a hand to the person next to them, passengers who opened the emergency door and helped one another off the plane, people who kept one another calm,” he said.
Topics: New York
James Moorhouse