A father who lost his wife and young daughter in the Washington, D.C. plane crash moved CNN’s Kaitlan Collins to tears during an emotional interview.
Andy Beyer appeared on “The Source” to pay tribute to his wife, Justyna, and their daughter, 12-year-old figure skater Brielle. They were among the 67 people who died last week when a Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines jet coming in to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
“I go through these moments of extreme sadness and tears. Then I get flat and numb. And then I feel guilty that I’m not just crying all the time. You know?” Beyer told Collins in the interview.
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He described the moment he learned there was a problem on the night of the crash, telling Collins he was waiting with his son in a parking lot near the airport to collect his wife and daughter. Beyer said his text messages to his wife switched from blue to green.
“Fire trucks started going by,” Beyer said. “At that point, I knew something was wrong.”
He said he then called someone who confirmed that the plane had crashed.
“I told my son,” Beyer said. “He came in the front seat with me. He had a really long cry. He let out this ‘No!’ It was—it really hurt. That’s how we found out, before anything was really official—we already knew.”
He then paid tribute to Brielle, saying that it was “the most amazing gift” being her father. “We were living our dream,” Beyer said. “And she was like the dream girl you could ask for.”
Later in the interview, Collins became visibly emotional after asking Beyer: “Why is it important for you to talk about them?”
“They deserve to be remembered. They deserve to have their story known,” Beyer said. “Everyone dies, right? And they live on through our memories. And I want people to have a memory of them so that they live on.” Breaking down, he added: “So that’s why I wanted to share their story.”
“Thank you—thank you for doing so, Andy,” Collins responded, after pausing to wipe away tears. “I think everyone’s going to be really touched to hear from you.”
