Families gather for vigil to remember loved ones 16 years after Flight 3407 crash

CLARENCE CENTER, N.Y. (WIVB) -- Wednesday marked 16 years since Flight 3407, which was heading from Newark, New Jersey, to Buffalo, crashed into a home in Clarence Center. 50 lives were lost.

Friends and family members remembered their loved ones at the site of the crash during the vigil Wednesday night.

Marilyn and John Kausner lost their daughter Elly in the Flight 3407 crash. Not a day goes by without them thinking of her.

"The way that she lived her life with so much passion — I believe that it's because God had put within her some kind of knowledge that she was only going to have 24 years, so she lived her life with a lot of gusto," Marilyn said. "She was very passionate about her family, she was very passionate about her friends, she had a tight knit group or friends and they're still very close."

Following the tragedy, many families of the victims waged their Herculean battle with airlines and the federal government to make the skies safe, advancing the FAA Reauthorization Act.

John said he has traveled to D.C. over 100 times. Two weeks ago marked the first time in the United States since Flight 3407 that a major commercial airline crash had occurred when an Army helicopter collided with a commercial jet, killing everyone on board.

"That trauma is still there and when we saw it, it came back," Marilyn said.

Ron Aughtmon lost his uncle, John Fiore, 16 years ago to the crash.

"He was the hit of a party, he spent 30 years in the military and retired chief master sergeant of the Niagara Falls Air Force Base and was getting ready to retire from his civilian job as a plant manager in Niagara Falls when the plane crashed," Aughtmon said.

Their family setup a charitable foundation in his name to raise money for various local organizations.

"It helps me reflect and keep a purpose of my life too," Aughtmon said.

He finds solace visiting the Flight 3407 Memorial in Clarence Center.

"It means everything, it's humbling, you cry, you remember the good and the bad," Aughtmon said.

Joe Pettys also remembered his sister Mary and all the victims at the vigil.

"They're all in a better place and like I said, I have nine brothers and sisters and we all, we get through it," Pettys said.

Flight 3407 families said they deal with their grief by relying on friends, family and other 3407 families.

The FAA Reauthorization Act, which was approved last year, runs through 2028. The families have pledged to always fight for aviation safety.