Nonprofit offers long-term grief support for loved ones of plane crash victims

Heidi Snow Cinader knows all too well the deep pain that one experiences from losing a loved one in an airplane crash. After her fiancé died when TWA Flight 800 crashed in the Atlantic Ocean in 1996, she developed an air disaster bereavement support network to help others who faced similar losses. 

Through her nonprofit, AirCraft Casualty Emotional Support Services or, ACCESS, Cinader has been helping facilitate the grieving process for people who have been affected by, or involved in, air disaster-related tragedies. For decades, her charity has been connecting those who have survived or lost loved ones in air disasters with professionally trained volunteers who have experienced similar tragedies in years past.

The moment Cinader and her band of volunteers saw the debris of the American Airlines plane in the Potomac River after it collided with a Black Hawk military helicopter, it brought them back to the day when their lives were all “changed in an instant,” Cinader told FOX Business. 

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“At our organization, we have the unenviable credentials of having lost loved ones in our disasters. And all these incredible people have come forward over the years from general aviation, commercial and military air crashes to really come forward to help other people get through their grief,” Cinader said. 

Many of the people who are grief mentors now initially reached out for help themselves. A few years after their own loss, they became eligible to attend training and became grief mentors, offering support to others.

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Several of the volunteers reached out after Wednesday’s crash, “asking how they can help and letting me know they’re on call, and they’re ready,” she said.

According to Cinader, these individuals are among the few who truly understand the pain of waiting to learn what caused the plane to crash, awaiting the recovery of bodies and being overwhelmed by constant media coverage.

Aside from grief support, the nonprofit also helps those in crisis become aware of the resources available to them.

“Through the ACCESS support system and referral services, we help individuals to overcome the feelings of hopelessness, isolation, despair, and confusion that often follow an air disaster,” the website says.

“We help minimize the risk of post-traumatic stress symptoms, long-term depression, family difficulties or an inability to function socially or at work.”

The goal is to help people “gain renewed strength, hope, and purpose.” 

The nonprofit seeks to support people not just in the moments after an air disaster, but for the rest of their lives. This includes major life events like birthdays and times when people are getting remarried. 

Finding someone else who knows “how to live a life for the long term” is really a big piece of what the organization does, Cinader said. 

“I remember so well . . . when I needed somebody to be with me for what laid ahead,” Cinader said.