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This very insightful book gives a very different look at the extensively publicized crash of Flight 4184. As a fireman, I spent several days at the accident site doing what needed to be done at the time, never realizing what the families were going through. I had believed that, surely, the airline was doing everything it could to relieve pain and grief. This book will serve as an essential guide for airlines and any of those who respond to tragedies, forcefully arguing that true and timely help is much needed by families that remain “in the wake of the storm.”

As a former airline captain for a major carrier and now as an aviation disaster attorney, I recommend Terri’s book for everyone who works in aviation, law, counseling, or in any profession working with people. Her generously shared insight offers priceless lessons and enlightenment.

On October 31, 1994, we were watching the news while awaiting the night’s first trick-or-treaters. When we heard about the crash of Flight 4184 in Roselawn, Indiana, my husband, Barry, immediately called the Red Cross, where he was chairman of logistics.We were informed that all personnel and equipment were to be prepared to assist with the operation the next morning.

An amazing amount of volunteers and staff showed up at the fire station to help, displaying a true outpouring of compassion for the victims’ families. The National Guard, fire departments, the Red Cross, friends, neighbors, and too many others to mention put forth a truly heartfelt effort to support, feed, and comfort any and all that were in need. But the psychologists, therapists, EMTs, firefighters, paramedics, and others present could not have anticipated the magnitude of what they were about to undertake.

Being an EMT myself, I had seen many horrific tragedies. But nothing had prepared me for what I was about to see. I only went to the crash site once to help with the search: I could not bring myself to go back. To this day, that scene stays in my mind and in my heart.

As bad as the experience was for us as workers, we couldn’t even imagine the despair and devastation endured by the families. Our hearts went out to all those who lost loved ones in the crash, and we kept them in our thoughts and prayers throughout the recovery process.We would like to thank Terri, not only for having the courage to document her traumatic ordeal in In theWake of the Storm, but also for acknowledging the care and effort put forth by the various agencies working together at the crash site. Reading this account filled us with hope and promise, for Terri’s honest and encompassing approach paid tribute to the work that we, along with countless other volunteers, do, and reminds us that there is purpose and meaning beyond every difficulty that we encounter.

Terri Severin has written an engaging and accurate account of what it is like to have an aviation disaster crash down upon your family. Her accounts of the horrific night of her sister and nephew’s crash, the waiting for information, uncaring airline personnel, days turning to weeks turning to months as information from the airline becomes known. The thoughts you have of those terrifying moments of our loved one’s last minutes. How caring the search and rescue teams can be, along with those in the town where it happens, lie in stark contrast to the airline. Her descriptions of working against a system in which change is resisted by the FAA and the airlines and how long it takes to get laws passed to make flying safer only hint at what it is like to go through a tragedy of this magnitude. Yet it is those feelings which compel many family members to go in search of the truth and work for change.

Terri brings to the forefront how long it all takes, from the time of a disaster through the fighting for safer skies and for justice in the legal system – and how each event brings up old feelings each and every time. I am not sure you can appreciate all of her words, if you have not lived through it, but it is certainly a glimpse into what families go through. In the Wake of the Storm is a must read for anyone connected to the transportation industry, or anyone who knows someone who has lost family in such a devastating way. It will give you an insight you could not have otherwise had.

Richard Mack
Former President, Victims of Pan Am Flight 103
Brother of William Mack, killed on Pan Am Flight 103
December 21, 1988, Lockerbie, Scotland