Flight attendant's survival after being ejected from plane 'a miracle'

Flight attendant Solange Tremblay survived being thrown from a Jazz Air Canada Express CRJ900 after it struck a fire‑truck on a LaGuardia runway, a crash that killed two pilots and injured others; experts said her “jump seat” and the circumstances made her survival a miracle.

Solange Tremblay's survival, said one aviation expert and pilot, was "a miracle."

Tremblay, a flight attendant with Jazz Air Canada, was reportedly ejected from Flight 8646 when the Air Canada Express CRJ900 collided with a fire truck on a runway at LaGuardia Airport in New York on March 22. She survived, multiple outlets including CNN and the New York Post reported.

Two pilots on the plane were killed and several others injured in the late night crash, which occurred as the plane was landing while a fire truck, responding to an issue on another plane, crossed the runway in front of it.

James Brauchle, an attorney and U.S. Air Force veteran, said that "as sad as it was that two pilots lost their lives," the collision could have been catastrophic.

"Having investigated hundreds of [airline] accidents, the dynamic force, especially at those speeds, is shocking," he told USA TODAY. "You'd be surprised at how many things detach (from the plane) and where they might land."

The investigation: Fire truck in LaGuardia crash had no transponder to trigger warning, NTSB says

Tremblay's daughter, Sarah Lépine, told a Quebec TV station that it was a "complete miracle" that her mother survived, and that she'd been launched more than 100 meters (just over 328 feet) from the plane. USA TODAY reached out to Lépine but did not immediately receive a response. More than 100 people posted well-wishes on a Facebook profile that appears to belong to Tremblay.

How flight attendants' seats are different

Brauchle said that the seat where Tremblay was at the moment of impact may have been what saved her life.

So-called "jump seats" are smaller and are usually attached the plane's bulkhead, a physical wall separating sections of the plane. They also have a shoulder strap, unlike passengers' seats. That, he said, likely made all the difference for Tremblay: "There's the 'flail,' the more your body flails [after the collision], the worse it is."

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In a March 23 statement on its website, Jazz Air Canada Express said it was "an incredibly difficult day for our airline, our employees and most importantly, the families and loved ones of those affected" by the collision. The carrier added it was "deeply saddened by the loss of two employees and are working to support family members and employees at this difficult time," pledging "our unwavering support" to those who've been injured. USA TODAY reached out to the airline but did not receive an immediate response.

Whatever pilots did 'saved the rest of the people on the plane'

People can survive crashes, he said, but not without serious injuries that can include fractures and concussions. The latter, Brauchle added, often comes not from direct impact to the head, but from what he called "the intense forces acting on the brain."

Survivors of plane crashes often struggle with trauma as well, he added: "There's a psychological impact as well. Many survivors are left with PTSD."

Seeing video of the LaGuardia collision and the mangled aftermath, Brauchle said he was surprised that it wasn't much worse.