This was the last thing they expected as they made it to their destination safely, only for a deadly collision to take place between the Air Canada jet and a Port Authority fire truck.
This crash claimed the life of the pilot and the co-pilot of the plane.
At one point, a flight attendant who was in her seat was thrown from the plane. She ended up on the runway and was rushed to the hospital but is expected to survive.
Forty-one people had been taken to the hospital, which included someone they were travelling with whom they said had a broken nose.
"One of our friends was like several rows back from us and like we walked past him on our way out because he was trying to find his glasses and his nose was totally broken and bleeding on his face," the passenger said. "A lot of people smacked their head against the seat in front of them."
The front of the regional jet sustained significant damage just moments before 11:40 p.m. Sunday.
As it was rolling down the runway it slammed into that vehicle which was responding to another incident.
"We went down for a regular landing, we came down pretty hard, we immediately hit something, it was chaos from there about five seconds later," passenger Jack Cabot said. "Everyone was hunkered down, everyone was screaming, we didn't have any directions because the pilots' cabin was destroyed. So someone said 'let's get the emergency exit, let's get the door and all jump out' and that's exactly what we did."
Passengers on LGA flight in collision describe chaos and panic
Meanwhile, crash survivor, Rebecca Liquori, said she was on her way home to Long Island from Montreal after attending her cousin's baby shower when the jet crashed into the fire truck.
"I didn't expect the whole front of the plane to be gone," she said. "Every time I close my eyes I hear the crash. I hear the screams. I hear the panic. I haven't been able to sleep since leaving the crash."
Air Canada survivor describes terrifying moments after collision at LaGuardia
Frightened, she says all she could think about was her husband and two young sons.
"The crash happened so quickly that I thought I was gone," Liquori said. "When I opened my eyes and I saw I'm still alive and I can still escape, I thought I have to get out. I have to make it to my boys."
The Port Authority provided an update early Monday morning.
"The plane carried 72 passengers and four crew," said Kathryn Garcia, Executive Director, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. "The AR FF vehicle carried two officers. In accordance with our emergency plan, initial numbers indicate 41 passengers and crew transported to hospital. Thirty-two have been released but there are also serious injuries."
The NTSB is investigating the crash. On Monday evening, the NTSB said the flight's cockpit voice recorder and cockpit data recorder (black boxes) were retrieved, and were immediately sent to Washington, D.C. to be reviewed.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the rumor of only one controller being in the tower at the time of collision at LaGuardia last night is "not accurate," but did not provide further information on the staffing, saying it would be first shared with the NTSB as part of the investigation.
Duffy said though they are a few controllers short, the LGA tower is "very well staffed" with 33 certified controllers and seven in training. Thirty-seven is considered fully staffed, but 33 is still considered a healthy number.
Runway 4 at LaGuardia Airport will remain closed until 7 a.m. Friday, according to a public notice from the FAA.
----------
* More Queens news
* Send us a news tip
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
* Follow us on YouTube