The Air Canada flight attendant who survived the deadly crash at LaGuardia Airport last weekend, is in hospital with several “severe injuries,” including shattered legs and a fractured spine, that will require multiple surgeries and months of rehabilitation, her daughter says.
Tremblay was one of two crew members to survive the crash that occurred moments after the flight from Montreal touched down.
The force of the impact destroyed the plane’s nose, killing both pilots; 30-year-old Capt. Antoine Forest and 24-year-old first officer Mackenzie Gunther. More than half of the 72 passengers were hurt and two firefighters in the truck that overturned in the crash also suffered injuries.
The senior flight attendant was sitting in her jump seat in the forward cabin of the plane, directly behind the cockpit, at the time of the crash, Lépine said. Her mother was later found still strapped to her seat lying on the tarmac.
Tremblay remains in a New York hospital with extensive damage to both of her legs. The open fractures require metal plates to repair the damage and she also needs skin graphs to replace the missing flesh she lost on her legs while sliding down the tarmac, the fundraising post said. She also may also need surgery for her fractured spine and has already received a blood transfusion due to complications from her first operation.
“My mom has suffered so much from this event and regrettably her struggles are far from over,” Lépine wrote. “She will have to undergo several other surgeries, along with intensive rehabilitation to learn how to walk again. At the moment our greatest fear is the risk of infection which could lead to other horrifying complications if her injuries become infected.”
The financial support will enable Lépine and her mother’s husband, Denis Nicol Jr., to take a leave from their jobs to be with and care for Tremblay at the New York hospital where the long-time flight attendant will be recuperating “for the foreseeable future,” according to the post.
The GoFundMe post includes a photo of Tremblay in her hospital bed with her sister by her side. It shows both of Tremblay’s legs stabilized and swathed in heavy bandages from knee to ankle.
Investigation Ongoing
The collision between the jet and the firetruck is the first fatal crash to occur at LaGuardia in 30 years. It remains under investigation by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.The NTSB has said its investigators are concentrating on the last three minutes of audio from the cockpit recorder, in addition to examining the staffing levels in the airport’s air traffic control tower.
Investigators said the NTSB is investigating the circumstances that led to the fire truck crossing the runway during the landing of the plane, and why it did not come to a stop after the control tower issued urgent warnings.
Questions persist about the role of air traffic controllers in the crash. One air traffic controller was heard on a radio transmission granting permission for a vehicle to traverse a section of the tarmac, only to attempt to halt it upon realizing that the jet had already been cleared for landing.
The agency also posted footage of the crash site to YouTube at the end of last week. It showed the plane still on the runway, its nose still a crumpled mass of metal and wires. The heavily damaged fire truck could also be seen laying on its side several feet away from the plane where it had skidded onto a patch of grass.
Orange safety cones were set out around the site which remained littered with debris.
The NTSB has not said how long the wreckage will remain on the runway or how long the investigation is expected to take.
