Surviving passengers on board the Air Canada flight that crashed during a runway collision with an emergency fire engine at LaGuardia Airport last week are still shaken up from the incident. Now, a Black woman, nurse Rebecca Liquori, is giving a firsthand account of what happened after the collision.
According to CBS, the Air Canada plane, helmed by two Canadian pilots, collided with an emergency vehicle on Sunday night, March 22, due to a breakdown in communication between air traffic controllers and the fire-rescue vehicle.
At the time, the fire-rescue vehicle had been cleared to go onto the runway to deal with another emergency with a United Airlines flight that had remained grounded. The crew members on board the United Airlines plane claimed they could smell a weird odor from the plane’s cabin, which made flight attendants feel ill. They requested the fire-rescue vehicle to come, according to The Independent.
However, while the fire-rescue vehicle was en route to that plane, the Air Canada flight was making its landing on the runway. At this moment, the air traffic controller realized what was about to happen and called for the fire-rescue vehicle to stop, but it was too late, and the two vehicles collided.
As a result of the crash, two young pilots, Capt. Antoine Forest and First Officer Mackenzie Gunther died at the scene. Additionally, a flight attendant fell through an opening in the mangled plane, and 39 out of 72 passengers were injured, per CBS.
In footage released by TMZ, Liquori took the time to explain what happened after the plane crashed.
“When we had the collision, I thought, I don’t want to die. I don’t want this to be how my life ends. My boys need me, please God, don’t let me die,” she said. “We didn’t realize that the pilots had passed away and that the flight attendant had been ejected, but I’m a nurse, and I know that every second counts, so I just stepped into action.”
Continuing her recount of events, Liquori said she opened the emergency exit to help some passengers get out before getting out herself. “There was no calming everyone. People were in panic, rightfully so; we thought we were going to die. We did all help each other. There was a very herd-like mentality; we leaned on each other. Nobody was pushing.”
Asked by TMZ whether she or other passengers would consider suing, Liquori said her main focus is her recovery and being with her children. The nurse and mother then admitted that she hasn’t been sleeping well since the collision.
“Anytime my mind is silent, I hear the screams, and I hear the crash; I hear the boom. I didn’t sleep for the first 24 hours after the flight, just cause I’ve been very anxious, my heart’s been racing. I’m not really getting great sleep. It’s been a very rough couple days,” she said.
Although TMZ called Liquori a hero, she said the pilots were the ones who deserved the thanks.
“Had they not pressed that emergency brake, the fatality could’ve been even larger,” she said. “The plane could’ve exploded. Anything could’ve happened, so it’s all credit to them. That’s how I feel.”
After the collision, LaGuardia Airport promptly shut down the runway. The Air Canada plane and the fire-rescue vehicle were towed from the tarmac on Wednesday, March 23. On the following Thursday, the runway was reopened, according to The Independent.
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