One on the Ground: The Story of One Family Before, During, and After Flight 3407 Crashed into their Home

February 12, 2009 was an ordinary evening at home for the Wielinski family. Karen said good night to her husband Doug as he left their family room. Their daughter was reading in an upstairs room. Minutes later their world and their home collapsed into flaming wreckage around them. 

    The crash of Continental Flight 3407 in Clarence Center, New York resulted in the loss of everyone aboard the plane and “one on the ground.” Karen and her daughter miraculously escaped. Doug did not.

    In this compelling memoir, Karen Wielinski has written a moving tribute to her husband along with her account of how she and her surviving family faced the myriad losses caused by the crash of Flight 3407.This is the story of one man, one home, and one family. It is the story of life before, during and after an unthinkable tragedy. As the members of the Wielinski family struggle to emerge from devastation, their lives are woven together with others who have experienced their own losses caused by the crash of Flight 3407. This is a story of survival and the bond of love that continues to unite a family. 

    Karen’s strength was tested time and time again in the years after the crash. Here is a description of watching a computerized simulation that had been prepared for impending litigation. The simulation had been coordinated with cockpit, audio recovered from the ”black box.” Karen tells how she felt as she watched and listened with her attorneys. 

    “Sixty seconds remained… closer and closer… My heart beat faster and faster. I sat at the edge of my chair and leaned toward the computer screen. A vision flashed in my mind: on the ground, Doug, Jill and I were oblivious to what was about to occur, but by now we would have paused and wondered. What is that? My eyes glued to the screen, I heard the pilot and co-pilot’s screams and a desperate “Christ!” and then… the blow was delivered. My hand covered the gasp that escaped from my mouth as I fell back into the chair, sobbing.  My hands shook.”