Eyewitnesses have described the moment Air Canada flight AC8646 crashed into a fire truck on the runway of New York's LaGuardia airport, killing two pilots and injuring dozens of others.
'We were literally like 100 metres away,' says 23-year-old Leo Medina, who was onboard another plane on the tarmac when the crash happened. 'It was like the plane got cut in half.' He told the BBC he then had to return to the gate and had been waiting in the airport for more than 12 hours, sleeping on the floor on a bed of jackets.
Passenger Rebecca Liquori, who was on the brain from Montreal that crashed, shared her experience with News12 Long Island, detailing a loud 'boom' just after landing.
'As we were descending, we hit a lot of turbulence,' she recounted. 'Then we landed very roughly… Everyone felt it. It was like the plane jolted and you heard the pilot try to brake trying to prevent the collision.'
'As you heard the brake, a couple seconds later it was just a very loud boom,' she added. 'Everybody jolted out of their seats.'
The crash occurred at 23:40 local time on Sunday (03:40 GMT on Monday), resulting in two pilots' deaths and 41 others taken to the hospital, some with serious injuries. Audio from air traffic control tower revealed a frantic appeal to 'Truck One, stop, stop, stop!' moments before the impact.
The truck had been called out to address a separate incident involving another aircraft that reported an issue with odour. Liquori mentioned that passengers helped each other slide down a wing to exit the plane, expressing gratitude for their safety amidst horror. 'I'm just happy to be alive,' she said, in disbelief that a short flight could end so catastrophically.
Passenger Jack Cabot, who was also on the same flight, described the scene as chaotic. 'We went down for a regular landing… everybody was hunkered down and screaming.' As LaGuardia airport, one of the busiest in the U.S., remains closed, its impact is felt far and wide, delaying and cancelling hundreds of flights.
Another traveller, 26-year-old Katie Rojas, whose flight to Chicago was ready for take-off when the incident occurred, shared her fear: 'It's scary. You never know if it could have been one of us.'
'We were literally like 100 metres away,' says 23-year-old Leo Medina, who was onboard another plane on the tarmac when the crash happened. 'It was like the plane got cut in half.' He told the BBC he then had to return to the gate and had been waiting in the airport for more than 12 hours, sleeping on the floor on a bed of jackets.
Passenger Rebecca Liquori, who was on the brain from Montreal that crashed, shared her experience with News12 Long Island, detailing a loud 'boom' just after landing.
'As we were descending, we hit a lot of turbulence,' she recounted. 'Then we landed very roughly… Everyone felt it. It was like the plane jolted and you heard the pilot try to brake trying to prevent the collision.'
'As you heard the brake, a couple seconds later it was just a very loud boom,' she added. 'Everybody jolted out of their seats.'
The crash occurred at 23:40 local time on Sunday (03:40 GMT on Monday), resulting in two pilots' deaths and 41 others taken to the hospital, some with serious injuries. Audio from air traffic control tower revealed a frantic appeal to 'Truck One, stop, stop, stop!' moments before the impact.
The truck had been called out to address a separate incident involving another aircraft that reported an issue with odour. Liquori mentioned that passengers helped each other slide down a wing to exit the plane, expressing gratitude for their safety amidst horror. 'I'm just happy to be alive,' she said, in disbelief that a short flight could end so catastrophically.
Passenger Jack Cabot, who was also on the same flight, described the scene as chaotic. 'We went down for a regular landing… everybody was hunkered down and screaming.' As LaGuardia airport, one of the busiest in the U.S., remains closed, its impact is felt far and wide, delaying and cancelling hundreds of flights.
Another traveller, 26-year-old Katie Rojas, whose flight to Chicago was ready for take-off when the incident occurred, shared her fear: 'It's scary. You never know if it could have been one of us.'
