Experts say the positive outcome of the collision was a combination of luck and advanced life-saving technology.
“It’s very rare for me to be able to say ‘midair’ and ‘no fatalities’ in the same sentence,” said Joseph LoRusso, a Broomfield, Colorado-based aviation attorney and commercially rated pilot.
The damage to the Metroliner's rear fuselage was in the “perfect location,” said Anthony Brickhouse, an associate professor of aerospace and occupational safety at the Daytona Beach, Florida campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
“If it was the flight deck: Bad outcome. The wings: Bad outcome. The tail: Bad outcome. It happened in the perfect place for the pilot to make it down,” he said.