Couple injured in passenger cart crash at MIA terminal shares ordeal
By Joe Roetz
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MIAMI (WSVN) — A couple visiting South Florida spoke out about the passenger transport crash at a Miami International Airport terminal that left both of them with serious injuries.
Speaking with 7News on Sunday, engaged couple Shannon Clemons and Kerrina Powell described the heart-stopping moment when the cart they were riding in crashed into a column at Concourse D, Friday afternoon.
“It ended up a day of horror at the airport,” said Clemons.
Cellphone video captured Clemons on the ground moments after impact.
The couple said they were heading back home to Detroit, Michigan at the time.
“We were traveling. We were on our way back home. We were trying to keep it calm,” said Powell.
Due to a prior injury that Clemons had suffered, the couple said, they opted to call for the cart.
“I slipped and fell and twisted my ankle on a puddle of water in that same terminal where the accident happened,” said Clemons.
The crash happened shortly after the driver showed up.
“He jumped off the cart and asked for our boarding passes, and when he jumped off the cart, the cart took off, and just started driving, like real fast, like somebody was just pushing the gas,” said Clemons.
“Yep, like it was a ghost on it,” said Powell.
It was at that moment when the cart struck the column.
“It ejected him, and it smashed me up against the wall,” said Powell.
The wall sustained damage and, the couple said, the impact left them seriously injured.
“I’m having complete numbness and something like a pinched nerve on the left side of my body,” said Clemons.
“My arm is broke, my thumb. My leg has got a splint on there,” said Clemons. “My hips, they were smashed into the wall, so my doctor, they wanted me to go check them because it looked like my spine was twisted.”
A piece of luggage was to blame for the crash. It fell onto the gas pedal, sending the two of them flying.
“We were just shocked, like dizzy. I was just there shocked, like, ‘Dang, like, what just happened?’” said Powell. “Everybody was trying to figure out what happened.”
At least one more person was treated at the scene for injuries.
The couple said they plan to hire an attorney.
7News has learned American Airlines operates the passenger cart. On Monday, a spokesperson for the airline said, “AA Customer Relations has been in touch with all the customers.”
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