On January 29, Andy Beyer was waiting in the parking lot outside the Reagan National Airport, texting his wife, who was on American Airlines 5342 with their daughter Brielle, a 12-year-old cancer survivor who was a competitive figure skater.
But instead of greeting the girls he “loved more than anything,” he watched firetrucks blazing by, not realizing he had just lost his “soulmate” and “princess” to the deadly midair crash that claimed the lives of 67 people.
On January 29, Brielle, 12, was traveling with her mom, Justyna, from Kansas to her home in Northern Virginia, where she lived with her dad, Andy and baby brother, 6-year-old Kallen.
Brielle was part of a select, elite group of the nation’s top young figure skaters, and the mother-daughter duo were returning home after six days of intensive training in Wichita.
“Six days was the longest we had ever been apart. It was it was hard. I really missed them. I was really looking forward to give them a hug,” Beyer told NBC, adding that his daughter was “just meant to sparkle.”
It was a huge accomplishment for the young girl, who as a baby, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a cancer “that develops from immature nerve cells found in several areas of the body,” according to the Mayo Clinic.The Washington Post reports that Brielle went through several surgeries, and spent some time on a ventilator.
Though Brielle was in recovery, she had some “residual nerve differences in her legs,” which made skating challenging, yet, nationally, she was still one of the top girls in her age group.
“This sport can be a grind, and it’s so important to find those moments where you are just filled with the joy of the whole thing,” Beyer, 44, told the Washington Post, adding the trip to Wichita “was one of those moments.”
“It was a big life goal of [Brielle’s], and she was so proud of herself. And Justyna was so proud of her, too,” Beyers adds of his wife, 42, who gave up her job in nursing to help their daughter realize her dreams.
‘Something was wrong’
After speaking with Justyna and Brielle every day, Beyers was excited to know the two were heading home.
The grieving father told the Washington Post that his wife texted him before the American Eagle Flight 5342 took off, reveling over the free glass of wine she received from a flight attendant.
While he and his son waited eagerly for the plane to land, he texted her, asking if they’d be landing soon.
But instead of reading a response text from Justyna, he watched emergency officials blazing by.
“Firetrucks started going by. At that point I knew something was wrong,” the teary-eyed father told CNN.
Deadly crash
About 9 p.m., the aircraft – part of the American Airlines group – collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
All 60 passengers and four crew members on board the commercial flight were killed, along with three soldiers on the helicopter.
‘Lived my life for them’
The day after the horrific crash, the heartbroken father shared an emotional post on Facebook, along with photos that shows the family enjoying time together.
“I’m still in shock, but I lost my soulmate and my princess last night. In case you didn’t know, Brielle was an amazing figure skater, among many other amazing things about her, and she had achieved one of her life goals of qualifying for the national development team for US Figure Skating.”
Beyers continues, “She and Justyna were on the flight that crashed returning from Wichita, where they had the high-performance camp…They were truly beautiful people inside and out.”
He ends the post writing, “I really lived my life for them, I loved them more than anything, and I’m going to miss them so much.”
Please send your very best wishes to the Beyers in the comments section below, along with those to all who lost their lives on American Airlines 5342.