The Air Canada flight that had an accident and resulted in a couple of casualties was a heartbreaking event. Thankfully, it seems the pilots’ quick thinking might have saved a lot of lives.
Keep reading to learn more.
A passenger who was on the Air Canada flight, which had a heartbreaking accident upon landing in New York, wants to share her thoughts with the world. The airplane which collided with a fire truck resulted in two deaths; of both pilots manning the flight. According to the passenger, both pilots ended up saving several lives.
The pilots, who have now been identified as Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther, lost their lives in the accident at LaGuardia Airport in New York late on Sunday, 22 March.
The emergency crew had been responding to another plane’s emergency when it had failed to take off. Due to a miscommunication with air traffic control, the truck was placed in the wrong place.
CCTV footage captured the heartbreaking accident, while audio, since released, reveals a controller admitting to messing up before sending emergency personnel to help.
So far, only two casualties have been reported from the accident; both were the pilots of the flight mentioned earlier. However, if it were not for their quick thinking and heroic actions, things might have been a lot worse.
Rebecca Liquori, who was on the Air Canada flight, shared her experience. “It was like a grinding sound. Then, a couple seconds after that, you just felt the collision. It was like the loudest boom I’ve ever heard,” she said.
Liquori, who is a nurse by profession, was left confused following the bang and realized getting off the plane as soon as possible was the best plan for her.
She went on to say, “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.”
Once she became aware of what happened, she had a lot of respect for the late pilots who stepped on the brakes to reduce the accident’s speed to 25-30mph, which resulted in much less damage.
The nurse 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 expressed their appreciation for the pilots, saying, “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 also joined in on the conversation, promising not to rest until an investigation into the crash was complete. He also thanked emergency workers for their services.
“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,” the mayor said.
We are sending our thoughts and prayers to the families of the two pilots who valiantly lost their lives in this heartbreaking tragedy.
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