One of the passengers injured after a flight was forced to land in Edmonton earlier this week told CTV News she is happy to walk away from the incident.
A photo of a propeller that crashed through a window where Christina Kurylo was sitting has surfaced on social media and has made the Grande Prairie woman realize how lucky she was.
“When I saw that propeller in my window and told that was where I was sitting it was like ‘wow,’” Kurylo said.
“I feel so lucky and blessed to have walked away with what I walked away with.”
The photo was posted on her friend Melissa Menard’s Facebook page.
Menard said she posted it because she felt it was not being covered in the news.
“They are just brushing it off that it was a rough landing but that picture is a crystal clear indication that this could have killed people.
“They just got lucky that it didn’t.”
According to the aircraft registration database the aircraft was manufactured in 2012 and was in service less than two years.
The Bombardier Q-400 is the same type of craft that was grounded by Scandinavian Air in 2007 after several crashes involving landing gear failures.
The runway at the Edmonton International Airport has been reopened and despite the controversy about the aircraft, the airline is standing by its equipment.
“The Q-400, both the original and the next generation aircraft, are extremely robust,” David Deveau with Jazz Aviation said. “So we have no concerns about the gear.”
The Transportation Safety Board has been investigating the incident, which officials said was due to a tire that was blown during take-off.
Something that Kurylo said she had a good view of in her window seat.
“Once we landed we were driving for a bit. It was really, really bumping and I looked back and the tires were all shredded up and flapping.
“All of a sudden something came crashing through my window and I got hit in the head.”
She said it was then she heard everyone in the plane cheering.
“And then all of a sudden everybody started screaming and I guess that is when all the smoke and whatnot started coming though the plane.”
Kurylo suffered a head injury and some bruising but said she was lucky that she was sitting beside someone with safety training.
“He stayed with me right to the very end. He was fantastic. Apparently he told me his name was Mike and I guess he works at Encana and he has safety training. He really helped calm me down.”
There were 75 people on board at the time, 71 passengers and four crew members. Three, including Kurylo, were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
With files from Julia Parrish, Amanda Anderson, Bill Fortier
