"The days after has been tough – physically, mentally and emotionally," said the professional dancer about her experience
Credit: Bob D’Amico/Disney via getty; Charlotte Jørgensen/instagram
NEED TO KNOW
- Charlotte Jørgensen survived the Air Canada crash that claimed the lives of the captain and first officer
- She credits the pilots for saving passengers’ lives and is taking time to recover with support from loved ones
- Of the 76 people on board, 41 were hospitalized
Charlotte Jørgensen, a professional dancer who competed on the first season of Dancing with the Stars, is a survivor of the Air Canada plane crash, she revealed in a recent Instagram post.
A week after an Air Canada passenger jet crashed into a firetruck at New York's LaGuardia Airport on March 22, killing captain Antoine Forest and first officer Mackenzie Gunther, Jørgensen is opening up about her experience on Instagram.
Jørgensen began her post by sharing that she boarded Air Canada Flight 8646 after a "fabulous weekend in Montreal."
After noting that most people have probably heard of the incident by now, she said that she owes her life to Forest and Gunther, "two brave souls."
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"They made the ultimate sacrifice so that we all could live…. I am indebted to them and my thoughts are with their families🙇♀️🙇♀️🙇♀️," she wrote.
While Jørgensen said that on the night of the crash, she "felt nothing as adrenaline was rushing through my body," things have changed as the days have gone by.
"The days after has been tough – physically, mentally and emotionally," she said.
Credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP via Getty
Jørgensen said she is at home being cared for by loved ones but "will be taking time to heal."
"I am grateful for all the love I have received and I send you all an extra warm hug🫂🙏❤️," she said.
The dancer ended her post by thanking her Dancing with the Stars "family for their "care and concern."
Seventy-two passengers and four crew members were on board the CRJ-900 aircraft, while 39 people on the plane and two officers on the firetruck — which was responding to reports of an unknown odor in the cockpit of another plane when the crash occurred — were transported to a hospital.
The majority have since been released.
Credit: Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty
PEOPLE previously spoke to U.S.-based aviation safety expert Anthony Brickhouse, who praised the pilots and said that while the crash resulted in fatalities, it could have been much worse.
“The photos are dramatic,” he said of the damaged passenger jet, “and they literally speak to how fast that aircraft was going and how much energy it had when it impacted the firetruck.”
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“It's sad that we had two fatalities, the captain and the first officer, but looking at those pictures, it's miraculous that we didn't have more," he continued.
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