Special Note
ACCESS
- (AirCraft Casualty Emotional Support
Services) needs our help.
ACCESS
is a non-profit organization originated to
help survivors and relatives of aviation crashes as they work through the
emotional turmoil in the aftermath of their loss.
ACCESS
is located in New York, and their limited
resources are strained because of the horrific terrorist attacks on the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon. Go to their
HOME PAGE,
and in the lower left you will find a button that will take you to their "DONATIONS"
page. Safe Skies International endorses and supports
ACCESS.
Please join us. Please contribute.
For Families and Friends of
Aviation Accident Victims
If you are reading this it may be because you
have lost a family member or friend in an aviation accident. Please accept our
heartfelt condolences in your time of grief. You have begun a journey that you
may feel will never end.
Safe Skies International has developed this page
specifically for those of us who lose friends and loved ones in an accident.
Our intent is to provide you with some helpful guidelines and comfort in the
time of your loss. Many of us who make our living in aviation have known the
grief and sorrow you are feeling now, and understand the suddenness of the
event. It is as if someone has simply disappeared, leaving you to confront the
news cameras and an insatiably curious public. Aviation accidents often bring
complete and utter loss to those left behind, there may be no evidence that your
loved one was even at the scene of the accident. It is as if he or she has just
been swept off the face of the earth. You may have special emotional and legal
needs that many people are unprepared for.
We at Safe Skies International are not
specialists in grief counseling, nor are we lawyers. Please consider us to be
no more than new-found friends who wish to help you get through the months and
years to follow because we have watched and experienced this very thing. You
will find below some thoughts and helpful links that will, hopefully, get you
started down the path to recovery.
Some Immediate Actions to Consider:
1. The media and some potentially unsavory people may be calling
family members before you have time to think - consider yourselves lucky if this
does not happen. Find a friend, or someone you deeply trust, to keep the
outside world at bay, to act as a family spokesperson for you, to answer the
phone and knocks on the door, and to make prepared statements to the press if
necessary. This person's role will be to provide you with personal space and
enough time to get your wits about you, it may take a few days for you to figure
things out and understand your new situation.
2. Communicate! Do not allow yourself to become isolated.
Start with family members, think about calling a religious leader and/or a
counselor. Consider getting grief counseling to work through this difficult
time. Read the
Red Cross
handout:
"Coping with the aftermath of an aviation disaster". You can
connect with another person who, like yourself, has lost a loved one or survived
an accident by contacting AirCraft Casualty Emotional
Support Services (ACCESS) - click
HERE
or dial toll-free
877-227-6435 in the US.
3. Be careful not to sign anything before you are able to engage
a competent lawyer. If you already have a lawyer, make immediate contact and
ask for help. Click
HERE for legal insight related to another accident but still
relevant. If you don't have a lawyer, consider getting one soon to protect your
legal interests because you are now in a situation that has short and long term
legal implications. Here's where a trusted friend may also help, by making a
recommendation or seeking referrals for you. Expect to be contacted by
unscrupulous people trying to cash in on your grief. Remember, you are
emotionally vulnerable now, and you must be suspicious of any unknown person who
reaches out to you unless they are directly associated with the airline, a
government agency or an established aid association. By the way, ask for
credentials!
4. Some airlines are better prepared than others for this type
of situation. They may have an emergency response team, they may provide
counseling, transportation and lodging if you should have a need to travel. In
any case, their employees and representatives will be feeling a deep sense of
loss as well because they have lost their own. It is alright to talk and work
with them but seek legal counsel or a briefing before you sign anything. Try to
keep personal and legal issues separate, that is the simplest way.
5. Expect to feel a need to travel to the scene of the
accident. If you do, you may wish to take something small and personal that
belonged to your loved one. It may help you find some comfort.
6. You will probably meet or hear from your fellow bereaved
survivors very quickly. Nearly every major aviation accident leads to new
relationships, memorials, and communication tools such as the
websites listed at the bottom of this page. These new friends will
understand your loss better than any others.
7. News sources on the internet are timely and responsive, use
the web to stay informed and get information. Start with some of the highly
reliable ones
below. Safe-Skies.com will have
News Updates but for the most part we refer to links similar to those, we
recommend that you go straight to our sources for timely information. Be very
careful,
Media Speculation can run rampant and put you on an emotional roller
coaster. Seek stable news sources such as Aviation week's
Aviation Now, or others listed
below.
8. We have seen many people publish websites with titles and
addresses referring to the accident that has impacted your life - some of those
websites are intended to bring them "hits" and generate income. Some of these
are truly working for you, some are working only for themselves, some may have
an agenda that you want no part of. Be very careful when you make contact with
ANY new accident specific websites and NEVER, NEVER give them money until you
are absolutely certain they are working in your best interests. Contact 2 or 3
of your fellow survivors, word will travel fast if there is a scam artist out
there.
9. Above all, remember you are never really alone. There are
more of us out here than you may think, we know what you are going through and
we are with you - always. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your lost
loved ones.
Related Websites
NEW:
The Bruderhof Grief Companion - Four books on grief are fully downloadable
as as a public resource.
ACCESS -
AirCraft Casualty Emotional Support
Services
-
ACCESS Help - Confidential Link to a Fellow Survivor
US National Transportation Safety Board Family Assistance page. Good
information
Red Cross Handout: Coping with the
aftermath of an aviation disaster
Griefworks
BC - A British Columbia-based grief support organization
MentalHelp.net Complete list of websites for the bereaved
Salvation
Army Website
1-800-LIFENET 24 Hour Crisis Intervention
Legal Advice By New York Bar Association for TWA 800, broadly applicable
PlaneSafe.org
- National Air Disaster Alliance/Foundation
GriefNet
- Internet community of persons dealing with grief, death, and major loss
GROWW - Grief Recovery Online for
Widows and Widowers
Twinless Twins for loss of a twin
The
Samaritans - UK based support for the suicidal
TAPS Armed Forces support group for military survivors
Other Aviation Accident Peer Support Groups
Alaska Flight 261 - A Memorial
EgyptAir Flight 990
Families of TWA Flight 800
Families of SilkAir MI185 Association
SwissAir-Delta Flight 111 Memorial
ValueJet
Flight 592 Memorial
Lockerbie - Victims of Pan Am Flight 103
SilkAir - Families of SilkAir MI185 Association
News Sources
-
The news sources below are not "up to the minute" but are
seen by Safe Skies International as being relatively free from
Speculation. Hard facts in an accident are often long in coming, the
investigation process is very methodical, but real accuracy takes time.
Please try and be patient with this difficult process.
Aviation Week - "Aviation Now", high integrity, well respected by Safe Skies
AvWeb
- Online Aviation Publication, also very high integrity
Aviation Safety Network Provides Global Perspective
ABC News.com - Very timely, rapid updates
CNN.com Also very timely & rapid updates
BBC Online British Broadcasting Corporation Website
News
Directory - Gets you to major newspapers around the world
Government & Airline Information
-
NTSB - National Transportation Safety Board is responsible for
investigating accidents and making recommendations to prevent others. The
NTSB is the US organization responsible for managing crash sites and
collecting evidence.
-
FAA - Federal Aviation Association is responsible for aircraft design,
operational and maintenance approvals and surveillance. The
FAA is
responsible for evaluating and acting on
NTSB recommendations.
-
FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Agency is an independent agency of the
federal government, reporting to the President.
FEMA is
tasked with "responding to, planning for, recovering from and mitigating
against disaster", which is the primary difference between them and the
NTSB. They are an assistance, rather than an investigative, organization.
-
Airline Links to Airline Websites, Fleet Information, etc from the FAA.
Very reliable information.
-
FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation is responsible for taking over crash
investigations when there is evidence of criminal activity such as bombing,
sabotage, hijacking, etc. They will take over from the
NTSB when there is compelling evidence of criminal conduct.
-
DOT - Department of Transportation is chartered to "serve the United
States by ensuring a fast, safe, efficient, accessible and convenient
transportation system that meets our vital national interests and enhances the
quality of life of the American people, today and into the future". The
FAA is part
of the DOT,
as are the US
Coast Guard, the
Highway
Administration,
Railroad
Administration and
Maritime
Administration, among others.
