CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Cries On Air w_ Man Who Lost Wife & Daughter In American Airlines Crash

Transcript

00:00I told my son, he came in the front seat with me and we had a really long cry.

00:07He let out this, like, this, no, you know, it was, it really hurt.

00:12That's how we found out before anything was really official, you know, but we already knew.

00:18A heartbreaking interview from a man who lost his wife and daughter in the American Airlines crash last week.

00:24Andy Beier joined CNN's Caitlin Collins to talk about the tragedy and remember his wife Justina and 12-year-old daughter Brielle.

00:32Beier's grief was so palpable, the news anchor at one point became emotional while speaking to him.

00:38They, like all the victims, they deserve to be remembered.

00:42They deserve to have their story known to the world.

00:46I mean, everyone dies, right?

00:48And they live on in our memories and I want people to have a memory of them so that they live on.

00:56So that's why I wanted to share their story.

01:12Thank you. Thank you for doing so, Andy.

01:15And I think everyone will be really touched to hear from you.

01:20So thank you. Thank you for coming on to talk about that.

01:24Thank you for sharing their story.

01:26Beier's daughter was among the multiple young skaters on board the January 29th flight headed back to D.C. from Wichita, Kansas,

01:34after they attended the U.S. Figure Skating National Development Camp.

01:38The plane collided midair with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, killing all 67 passengers on board both aircrafts.

01:46Beier says he was with his son at nearby Reagan Airport waiting for the plane to land.

01:51We were texting with them right before they were supposed to land and the tracker said landed and the texts went from blue to green.

01:59And then fire trucks started going by.

02:02And I mean, at that point, I knew something was wrong.

02:07Called someone that, you know, was able to confirm that their plane was in a crash.

02:11And I told my son he came in the front seat with me.

02:17Really long cry. He let out like, no, you know, it was really hurt.

02:24That's how we found out before anything was really official, you know, but we already knew.

02:29Through the tears, Beier spoke about how he'll remember his wife and daughter.

02:33All I ever wanted when I was like a little kid.

02:36I remember just wanting a family to love, you know, and we were we were living our dream.

02:40And she was like the dream girl that you could ask for.

02:43You know, my son is a dream son, too.

02:45She was just the dream girl from the moment that I met her.

02:48She was a joy and a gift.

02:51We never forgot that we soaked it all in.

02:53People will tell you, you know, to make sure we did soak it all in.

02:57And you just never think like something like this could happen to you and that it could be taken away from you.

03:03I could talk to you all day about them.

03:05And I know we haven't talked about my wife, but she was the most wonderful mother.

03:10She wanted to make every moment special for the kids.

03:14And she did. She gave him those those magic memories, you know.

03:27Yeah.