Woman who survived after plane crash killed everyone on board had no idea what caused the disaster until someone told her

A student who survived after a plane crashed into her hotel opened up about how it changed her life, more than a decade on.

It’s now been 25 years since the tragic Concord Air France crash, which killed everyone on board.

On 25 July 2000, Air France flight 4590 was on its way from Paris Charles de Gaulle to New York JFK, carrying 109 passengers and crew.

An investigation by the French government attributed the crash to the Concorde running over a strip of metal on the runway, which led to a tire blowout and subsequent fuel tank rupture.

The released fuel was ignited ‘by an electric arc in the landing gear bay or through contact with hot parts of the engine’ and caused engine failure.

However, at this point, the aircraft had reached V1 - a speed that means it’s impossible to safely reject takeoff. So, the plane left the ground but was extremely short of power and lost control.

It's been 25 years since the Concorde Air France disaster in 2000 (AFP via Getty Images)

It stalled and struck the Hotelissimo Les Relais Bleus in the town of Gonesse, located just 10 miles north of Paris.

The devastating accident claimed the lives of all 109 passengers and crew on board, as well as four individuals who were in the hotel. Also in the hotel was Cambridge University student Alice Brooking, who spoke out about her terrifying experience back in 2015.

She was staying in the hotel and had been inside her room for just thirty minutes when the disaster unfolded and the plane plummeted into its side.

According to The Mirror, she was on the phone to her sister when the line suddenly went dead and she heard a huge explosion. She told the publication that she ‘didn’t know what was going on at all’ and had to jump out of her window to escape the flames, as the walls of her room were ‘caving in’.

Alice, from Kent, UK, said: “I can remember all of it. I heard a big explosion, I didn't know what was going on at all.

“I turned around and the walls of my hotel room were caving in and flames were coming through the walls. The only way out of that hotel room was the window.”

Alice Brooking was in the hotel the plane crashed into and had to jump out of the window to survive (ITN)

She looked out of the window to find the receptionist of the hotel with their arms outstretched, urging her to jump.

The then-student explained: “I jumped and ran for my life. At that point I had no idea at all what had happened. The plane crashed into the back of the hotel and my room was, thank God, at the front. I was incredibly lucky.”

She only realised what had happened once drivers on the floor informed her that the plane had crashed into her hotel.

In the interview, which took place 15 years after the event, Alice admitted it ‘does still trouble her’ but it also makes her more aware of ‘the importance of life’.

Alice added: “It does still trouble me to a certain extent. If you have been through a near death experience like that where you have literally seen your life flash before your eyes, I don't think you are ever the same person.

“It makes you quite anxious. I don't think it is an overly negative thing. I think it makes you more aware of life and the importance of life.”