A Detroit flight attendant is dealing with survivor guilt after narrowly averting a tragic jet disaster that killed her colleagues.
Alexis Burgess had worked on the exact jet involved in the catastrophe just hours before it crashed, leaving her stunned and disbelieving.
Burgess had spent the day working aboard an American Airlines flight, flying from Philadelphia to Toronto to Washington, D.C., before finishing her shift in Wichita, Kansas.
As she stepped off the plane, she exchanged greetings with the incoming crew, who included her close friends Ian Epstein and Denasia Elder.
Hours later, catastrophe struck when the jet collided with a chopper and crashed, killing everyone aboard.
“The last thing that I said to him was ‘have a safe flight,’ and the last thing he said to me was ‘have a good overnight,’” Burgess recalled in an interview with Local 4 News.
A Survivor’s Dilemma
Burgess, now back in Detroit, is dealing with the weight of what could have been. If a flight attendant had called in ill, she might have been on that doomed aircraft.
“I don’t know whether to be grateful or to break down,” she admitted. “I don’t know whether to quit or go harder, be stronger, be braver—you know, brave for them.”
Burgess left his personal items aboard the plane before disembarking. Seeing photographs of the debris has just added to the bizarre aspect of her near miss.
“I left a water bottle in the back of 21C,” she said. “I worked the back, Denasia worked first class. So I’m just thinking about the things I left on that plane. And now it’s in pieces.”
A Mother’s Heart-Wrenching Fear
Burgess’ mother, like many parents of flight attendants, is constantly praying for her daughter’s safety. This tragic crash serves as a sobering reminder of the dangers that aviation personnel face every day.
“If I was on reserve and one of those flight attendants got sick, they would have scheduled me on that flight,” Burgess said. “I feel like I made it by the skin of my teeth and by the grace of God.”
Burgess is processing her emotions while simultaneously mourning the death of her colleagues. Their final exchange, which seemed so regular at the time, now has great weight.
