‘This was broken and we fixed it’: Tragedy into triumph for family who lost daughter in Flight 3407 crash
John and Marilyn Kausner lost their daughter
By Eileen Buckley
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CLARENCE CENTER, New York (WKBW) — Monday marks 15 years since the crash of Flight 3407 in Clarence Center.
John and Marilyn Kausner lost their daughter, 24-year-old Elly Kausner, in the crash. They tell 7 News they have been able to turn the tragedy of losing their daughter into a triumph for airline safety.
“You’re reliving the worst day of your life,” said Marilyn Kausner.
That was the night Colgan Air Flight 3407 fell from the sky, crashing into a home on Long Street, killing a total of 50 people.
“It reminds you of losing someone you really, really loved, and miss,” said John.
They invited 7 News Senior Reporter Eileen Buckley into their Clarence Center home on Monday. They were on a Zoom call with other Flight 3407 families and U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer to highlight the amazing work in getting an FAA bill approved that requires all commercial pilots to have at least 1,500 hours of flight experience.
“It isn’t something the American public safety should be compromised to solve,” said John. “So that’s what we keep coming back to. And it’s like I said to the senator, it’s Groundhog Day, you come back to the same issues all the time. But that’s what we’re doing.”
They have worked closely with other Flight 3407 families and have accomplished so much in their fight for safer skies and reflected on their beautiful daughter Elly 15 years later.
“There’s just this sadness that she’s not here,” said Marilyn. “She doesn’t know all the wonderful things that have happened in the last 15 years. And we don’t, you know, we don’t get to see where her life would have been at this point.”
“She would be so thrilled with our group of friends, with our family and how it’s grown,” said John. “And she’d been she’d be right in the center of all of it. So today you see a little different because it reminds you of losing someone you really, really loved, and miss.”
They remind us all that since they began their fight, there have been no crashes involving a commercial passenger plane in the U.S.
Carved on a memorial stone are the words “may we never forget,” something that has an extremely profound meaning for the family.
“When we say ‘never forget,’ I want the next generation to realize we went out and fixed this,” said Marilyn. “This was broken and we fixed it and don’t get casual about it. Because if we don’t stay diligent, they’ll roll it right back and it’ll start happening again like it was happening before.”
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