South Florida plane crash survivor says D.C. midair collision, her tragedy have chilling similarities
MIAMI — The tragic midair collision over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night, is hitting close to home for one South Florida woman who survived a deadly plane crash over the Everglades.
When American Eagle Airlines Flight 5342 collided midair with a Black Hawk helicopter just moments from landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Beverly Raposa relived her own crash nightmare.
"My heart! I just cried. I was like, you know, you can almost probably see Washington right over there, and you're so close, Oh that breaks my heart," she said.
Raposa was a flight attendant on Eastern Airlines Flight 401 when it crashed into the Florida Everglades less than 20 miles from Miami International Airport in 1972. She's one of 75 people who survived.
"I'm thinking to myself, 'They were so close. They were on the final approach of Reagan, just like us,'" she said. "We were on approach into Miami, "Yay, we're going to get home a long day.' And you know, for them, I mean, and us, it happened."
When Raposa saw the fireball in the sky above the Potomac, she couldn't help but remember the explosion on her flight.
"He was making the turn to the left, and the left wing tip hit! Absolutely no warning. And the sound of that left-wing tip hitting the ground and the fireball, I don't think I'll forget it to my dying day," she said.
One thing Raposa is grateful for is that no one knew what was about to happen before the crash. She hopes the souls aboard Flight 5342 had that same "blessing," as she calls it.
"The blessing of Flight 401, was that there was no warning," she said. "There was no warning. No one was afraid."
A picture of Beverly and her fellow flight attendants was snapped on the day of the crash. Two of her coworkers did not survive. She takes a little comfort in knowing that eventually some good will come of this.
"So like with my passengers and my fellow crew members who didn't make it on 401, I say their lives were not lost in vain, you know, safety measures will come about that will make flying much safer for everyone," she said.
