Flight attendant killed in midair collision near D.C. honored with service

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A flight attendant who was killed in the midair collision last week near the nation’s capital was remembered Wednesday for his devotion to family and passion for travel, as Ian Epstein’s family and others start to hold memorials for loved ones who were among the 67 victims in the deadliest U.S. air disaster since 2001.

The celebration of life for Epstein took place at the Chabad Center for Jewish Life in Charlotte. The 53-year-old was described as a loving father, stepfather, husband, brother and uncle, with a career that afforded him the opportunity to connect with people and explore the world.

Epstein’s daughters and wife spoke about a doting father with a love of adventure. Debra Epstein called her husband her fifth child on trips to Disney World. His daughters remembered a dad helping them overcome their fears or trying to make a meal out of tuna.

Debra Epstein said her husband’s schedule changed, moving him to the flight that crashed. But she said she thinks he was still supposed to be there.

“We believe he was supposed to be on that flight because it was full of laughter and fun before the tragedy,” his wife said.

The celebration was filled with people in pilot and flight attendant uniforms and the family’s friends.

The crash between the American Airlines passenger jet and the Army Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport killed everyone on board both aircraft.

A few miles from the airport on Wednesday evening, dozens of people, including elected officials and first responders, honored all of the lives lost following the collision with a public candlelight vigil at an Alexandria, Virginia, park.

At the Charlotte service, Rabbi Yossi Groner noted the videos that poured in on social media showing Epstein calming cranky babies, joking with passengers and making a routine flight special.

Epstein had both a warmth and humility that made him one of those people who just glowed, Groner said.

“His true joy in life was helping those around him,” Groner said.

Lynne Southmayd went to flight attendant training with Epstein five years ago. It was a tough, stressful time, but Epstein was the light of the entire class.

“He could make us laugh no matter how hard we were crying,” Southmayd said.

Southmayd, who no longer has the job but flew from Delaware to celebrate her friend, said they bonded even more because while their job remains very safe and a U.S. commercial flight hadn’t experienced a fatal crash in over 15 years, that safety depends on them trusting and working with each other.

Prior to leading Epstein’s service, Groner said that although those who lost loved ones in the collision face unfathomable pain, the soul is eternal and the victims didn’t live a life in vain.

“The message is that whatever they accomplished in life, the positive things they did, that we would like to carry on for the future and know that there will be a better world in the future,” Groner told The Associated Press.

The services were happening a day after federal officials confirmed that the remains of all of the victims have been recovered. The cause of the crash, which sent both aircraft into the Potomac River, remains under investigation. All of the victims have been identified, and their remains are being returned to their families.

Salvage crews continued to pull pieces of the plane out of the Potomac River on Wednesday that investigators took to a hanger, so they could examine them for clues about what caused the crash. A wing with the wheels extended was one of the biggest pieces pulled from the water, along with part of the plane’s fuselage and an engine.

Sixty passengers and four crew were on the American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, including figure skaters returning from the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships there.

The Black Hawk was on a training mission. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland; and Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach, of Durham, North Carolina, were aboard.

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Associated Press writers Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, and Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.