Watching the crash

Editor's note: The writing below was sent in by a talented young writer who witnessed Tuesday's plane crash.

I went and searched the web to find any more information about the crash. I Googled it and your info came up. I was there too. I was in a blue Honda Oddysey. My mom was the one that gave the emergency blankets to the victims of the crash. Her name is Jo Smith. She is a hero in my eyes because she was there and wanted to help. She was going to go help lift the wing but she had me and my brother in the car. She didn't want to die and leave us there. I personally think that she should have went to help.

So back to the crash. Me and my mom were in the car waiting at the traffic light on Ingra Street and we heard the plane. "That plane sounds really low," my mom said. As I agreed with her I saw the plane come over the Ingra House. It clipped the top and then I saw the plane rock back and forth. I looked out the opposite window and it was still shaking. I was thinking "there is no was that this plane is going to go over that small yellow house." Then, right as I was thinking that, me, my mom, and my brother saw it hit the ground. We all gasped. Right that second my mom pulled out her phone and called 911. As she was calling them, I was also on the phone with my dad. My dad was worried sick. My sister had no clue about this because she was at gymnastics at Arctic Gymnastics. That's where I was right before the crash. We were heading home when it happened.

So then my mom jumped out of the car and went over. She didnt get too close because me and my brother were in the car. About 30 min after it happened we were pulling off of Ingra Street. We were so glad that nobody had died. On the way home we heard on the radio that there were five people in the plane. And that one had died. We were very sad. I was sad because I knew that I had witnessed a death. That will haunt me for my lifetime. I also feel like I was the one that murdered the person that died in the crash because I wasn't old enough to go out and help. I am only 12 years old. I saw some army people there that climbed in the plane to rescue the people. My dad is in the army. He is a lieutenant colonel. Well I think that's all I needed to say. Email me if you have any more questions. Thanks!!

Starting this fall, Maddie Smith will be an eighth grader at Mirror Lake Middle School in Chugiak.