Flight attendant was thrown 320 feet in a devastating airplane collision — one thing kept her alive and her daughter calls it a ‘miracle’
Once in a while, we hear of survival stories where the chances should have been absolutely zero. Yet, defying every odd, some still make it. A cat with nine lives or a guardian angel watching over them? We may never really know. However, the same can be said about the survival of this Quebec flight attendant from Air Canada, Solange Tremblay, working on a Jazz Aviation flight. As reported by PEOPLE on March 23, 2026, the flight hit a port authority vehicle at the New York City LaGuardia Airport. She was suspended 320 feet from the plane after a collision during landing. While everyone presumed the worst had happened, through an utter "miracle," as her daughter described, she was found alive. Her daughter credits a "miracle" for the unexpected outcome.
Seated in the jump seat right behind the pilots, Solange Tremblay was in one of the most vulnerable positions when the aircraft collided with a firetruck on the runway. The impact was severe enough to rip her seat completely out of the plane, throwing it more than 100 meters away. The pilot and co-pilot, both, unfortunately, lost their lives. However, one single detail saved the flight attendant. When the rescuers found her, she was still strapped in her seat. That single safety measure, her seatbelt still secured, is what many believe made the difference between life and death.
She did endure some injuries due to the impact. Her daughter, Sarah Lépine, mentioned in an interview with Quebec TVA News that Tremblay had multiple fractures and a broken leg, for which she has been hospitalized. However, one cannot help but wonder whether she was made of steel or it was simply not her time. Because it is not every day that we hear people coming back after such lethal injuries. The flight attendant's daughter later reflected on why she thought her mother was alive. She said it was nothing short of a miracle. “She had a guardian angel watching over her. It could have been much worse,” she added.
The collision itself unfolded in a way that still raises questions. As the aircraft was landing, a firetruck had been cleared to cross the runway to respond to a separate incident involving another plane. In the final moments, air traffic control could be heard urgently warning the vehicle to stop, a previous report from PEOPLE noted, but it was too late to avoid the crash. Survival in plane crashes is not just rare, but it is also determined by where one is seated. According to a study published by Time Magazine, passengers in the front section of an aircraft have significantly lower survival rates compared to those at the rear, with some analyses estimating around 38% survival in the front versus nearly 32% in the back. Since the flight attendant was sitting inside the cockpit, her survival is even more extraordinary.
People were quick to wish her well over the Instagram post shared by @people with @missgora also reestablishing a very important aircraft rule we often ignore, "And this is why we don't take off our seat belts until they say we can." While @the_lincfox said, "I can’t imagine what those seconds must have been like. Flying through the air and then realizing you’re safe in your seat." Some were also worried about the firetruck driver, wondering if he was okay, to which @dariverboatqueen commented, "The firemen survived this horrific crash, but they have serious injuries and are still in the hospital." Although the survival story fosters hope and faith in many, there were also a few who were paying their condolences to the hard-working pilots who had lost their lives, and wished their families well.
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