The daughter of a flight attendant who was hurled hundreds of feet during a catastrophic plane crash has provided a significant update on her mother’s condition as she continues her recovery in hospital.
On Sunday 22nd March, an Air Canada Express aircraft collided with a fire engine on the tarmac at LaGuardia airport, claiming the lives of both pilots and sending senior flight attendant Solange Tremblay flying 320 feet through the air.
Solange was still strapped to her seat when she was flung from the wreckage, and was subsequently discovered on the tarmac.
She sustained devastating injuries, including two shattered legs and a fractured spine.
Her daughter, Sarah Lépine, launched a GoFundMe campaign and revealed that her mother requires numerous surgical procedures involving metal plates to reconstruct the damage to her legs.
Sarah said: “She sustained a fractured spine where she continues to wait and see if surgery is required.
“Furthermore, she requires skin graphs to repair the missing flesh she lost on her legs while sliding down the tarmac.
“She has even received a blood transfusion due to complications from her first surgery.”
She further revealed that Solange remains in a New York hospital, where ‘she remains in constant fear’ of further complications.
The devoted flight attendant faces an arduous rehabilitation process as she relearns how to walk.
Her daughter wrote: “My mother dedicated her entire life as a flight attendant, and was very proud of her work. She loved serving the public and helping them travel safely from their respective destinations.” The fundraising page has so far accumulated over $160,000 in donations.
Photographs taken at the scene revealed the fire engine had been completely destroyed, while the nose of the aircraft had been torn off.
The plane was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members. Aviation specialists warned the consequences could have been significantly more catastrophic had the collision involved the aircraft’s fuel reserves.
In the wake of the crash, America’s National Transportation Safety Board has launched a full-scale investigation.
Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy confirmed that the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder have been recovered and transported to Washington for analysis.
