A Detroit flight attendant is grappling with survivor’s guilt after narrowly avoiding a fatal plane crash that claimed the lives of her colleagues.
Alexis Burgess had worked on the very jet involved in the accident just hours before it went down, leaving her in shock and disbelief.
A Fate-Deciding Shift Change
Burgess had spent the day working aboard the American Airlines jet, flying from Philadelphia to Toronto to Washington, D.C., before ending her shift in Wichita, Kansas.
As she stepped off the plane, she exchanged well wishes with the incoming crew, including her dear friends Ian Epstein and Denasia Elder.
Hours later, tragedy struck when the jet collided with a helicopter and crashed, killing those onboard.
“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 home in Detroit, is struggling with the weight of what could have been. If a flight attendant had called in sick, she could have been on that doomed flight.
“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 personal belongings on the plane before disembarking. Seeing images of the wreckage has only intensified the surreal nature 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’s mother, like many parents of flight attendants, lives in constant prayer for her daughter’s safety. This devastating crash serves as a painful reminder of the risks aviation professionals 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, but she is also mourning the loss of her colleagues. Their final exchange—so routine at the time—now holds immense weight.
