Authorities say an Air Canada passenger is "lucky to be alive" after a propeller broke off the flight and slammed through her airplane window, leaving her with a head injury.

The accident happened last week as the plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Edmonton International Airport. The flight reportedly landed sideways and began skidding, which authorities believe may have been caused by a blown tire.

The rough landing reportedly caused a blade to break off the plane's right propeller, sending it flying into the plane, where it sliced through the cabin wall.

Kurylo was one of five Grande Prairie radio station employees on the plane. She was sitting in row seven when part of one of the plane's propellers smashed through the window, narrowly missing her face.

"All of a sudden I got hit in the head," she said. "It was pretty confusing for me. It's bits and pieces for me after that."

"The propeller, obviously that didn't hit her, but the whole inside wall of the plane blew out so she had fibreglass and everything all embedded in her skin," said her co-worker Melissa Menard who was also on the plane.

Four people were injured by the flying shrapnel, but no passengers were directly hit by the propeller blade.

"The sort of least worst scenario is minor injuries like this, so we're certainly very happy to be in a position that there are no worse injuries than that," EIA spokesperson Heather Hamilton told the Global News.