LaGuardia Plane Crash
Survivor Describes Screams, Helping Passengers Exit
Published
TMZ.com
Rebecca Liquori — a surviving passenger on the Air Canada plane that collided with a fire truck on the runway at LaGuardia Airport this week — can’t get the sound of people screaming out of her head … as she focuses on healing from the near-death experience.
TMZ caught up with Rebecca Thursday, just days after the pilots of her plane were killed in the crash … and she walked us through her thoughts, from the moment the plane came to a crashing halt, to the moment she deboarded to discover its entire front had been torn off.
Watch the clip … she tells us it was chaos when the plane hit the truck — passengers were screaming and they had no instructions from the crew — one of whom was ejected, landing on the tarmac.
Rebecca is a nurse, and her instincts quickly took over as she opened the emergency door and helped fellow passengers out. She notes despite the panic, passengers came together with a “herd mentality” to help everyone exit the aircraft safely.
Reflecting on the days since, Rebecca tells us she didn’t sleep a wink for the first 24 hours … and is stuck replaying the “boom” of the crash and the cries of terrified passengers in her head. She tells TMZ she is seeking therapy for her trauma … noting she is bonded with her fellow passengers for life.
Rebecca Liquori
She also tells us her thoughts about suing Air Canada … and praises the pilots for doing all they could to protect passengers before their lives ended in an instant — watch the full clip to hear it all.
We told you about the heartbreaking accident — the Air Canada Express regional jet collided with a Port Authority fire truck while landing in New York after departing Montreal, Canada Sunday night. There were 72 passengers and 4 crew members on board — and 41 of them were injured, with 9 of the injuries being described as serious at the time.
The pilots who lost their lives are both from Canada — pilot Antoine Forest and copilot Mackenzie Gunther.
