CLARENCE, N.Y. — On Monday, families who lost loved ones on Continental Flight 3407 are making their way back to Washington and Capitol Hill to continue their fight to enhance airplane safety - especially when it comes to pilots.
Summer West was only two years old when her father Ernie died on that flight. Now a teenager, Summer tells 2 On Your Side's Liz Lewin she wants to continue fighting for what she believes is the right thing.
"It's hard especially for people my age to lose their parental figure because they mean a lot to them," Summer shared.
After meeting with lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the FAA will also be presenting the families with a plaque dedication, recognizing their ongoing efforts to protect and uphold the Aviation Safety Law that was first signed under then-president Barack Obama.
Jennifer West is Summer's mother and says it's important to keep reminding people why this work and this law is so important.
"Our pilot failed the check five times. He wasn't supposed to be authorized to fly that plane," Jennifer said. "This is something that could have been prevented and since this law, it has been."
Thousands of lives have in fact been saved since this law has been in place.
Before boarding their plane, West tells 2 On Your Side's Liz Lewin, "why would you even want to change it when it's been proven that there hasn't been a fatal crash in thirteen years since this law? So to me, like I used to say in the past, money can't tuck my daughter in bed at night so we have to keep fighting because there are people that forget about it."
The reality is, however, there's a growing shortage of commercial pilots - partially due to COVID-19 and also there's been a national rise in retirement among pilots.
"We don't want our loved ones to be just a statistic of this many people who died," Jennifer continued. "We want people to see that it hurt a lot of people to lose them this way."
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