CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — A flight from Charlotte Douglas to Reagan National Airport was scheduled to land within minutes of Wednesday night’s midair collision.
It left dozens of people stuck in a holding pattern in the sky as the tragedy unfolded.
“Obviously it was very unsettling to know that I was so close and that it, you know, a flip of a coin, it could have been my plane, or it could have been no plane at all,” said James Moyler, who was on the flight. “It’s a horrible situation.”
Seeing the heartbreaking videos and pictures and learning about the people involved in the collision between a U.S Army helicopter and an American Airlines plane is weighing heavy on Moyler.
“This is extremely tragic for all the people who I know stayed up all night last night and were praying for good news, which we all know did not end up coming,” he said.
Moyler was on a different American Airlines flight scheduled to land at 8:48, just minutes before the deadly accident happened. Windy conditions in Charlotte delayed his plane, but the flight eventually took off and made it to the Washington, D.C., area. The pilot then let everyone know they weren’t landing.
“He said that there had been an incident with a helicopter and that we wouldn’t be able to land in DCA for an hour,” said Moyler. “He said the plane didn’t have fuel to circle for an hour, so we were being diverted.”
At that point, no one knew the extent of what had happened. Once the plane touched down at Dulles International, passengers started getting more information.
“We sat on the plane for a little over two hours,” said Moyler. “It was a very like, somber experience. Nobody was complaining. Normally you feel like in that experience you have really unhappy people. I mean, it was just very surreal at that point.”
Moyler eventually made it to his house, hearing the sirens and seeing the first responders rushing toward the scene, feeling heartbroken for those who didn’t make it home Wednesday night.
