Passengers described the mayhem aboard an Air Canada Express flight that crashed into a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport late Sunday, killing both pilots and leaving dozens injured.
Jack Cabot told Fox News the Jazz Aviation flight operated on behalf of Air Canada “came down really hard” around 11:40 p.m. and “stopped really quickly.”
About two seconds later, “we just had an absolute, like, slam,” Cabot said.
“Everybody was flying everywhere. The plane was sort of veering off left and right,” he said. “It was chaos. It didn’t feel like there was anybody in control.”
ABC7NY reported the flight, which originated in Montreal, crashed into a Port Authority vehicle on the runway. The CRJ-900 plane was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members.
In audio from the air traffic control tower, someone from the control tower demands the fire truck stop. But it was too late for the plane on Runway 4.
“Stop, stop, stop, stop truck one, stop,” said the unnamed control tower official.
The pilot and co-pilot were killed in the crash. Nine others were left in hospital with serious injuries.
Local news outlets reported there was significant damage to the plane’s nose.
About 41 people were taken to hospital, but 32 of them had been released by Monday morning.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration said LaGuardia will stay closed until at least 2 p.m. local time.
Two people who were aboard the flight, a man and a woman, told ABC said one person they were travelling with suffered a broken nose in the crash.
“We were honestly sleeping and then landing and then all of a sudden, boom,” said the man. “We woke up in shock. We just didn’t know what to do.”
Within a few minutes, they decided they needed to get off the plane.
“We were a couple of rows behind first class and everything at the front of the plane was pretty messed up,” the female passenger told ABC.
Once passengers got off the flight, they were directed to the Air Canada ticket counter to find their families, Kathryn Garcia, the executive director of the New York Port Authority, told reporters.
“We understand that the one unaccompanied minor has been reunited with their family,” Garcia said.
“It is anticipated that the airport will be closed until at least 2 p.m. this afternoon to facilitate the investigation by NTSB, which has already begun.”
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