Heartbreaking video of 'world's best flight attendant' at work before he died in DC plane crash

Video of the 'world's champion formation attendant' warmly joking with passengers has surfaced aft the unit subordinate tragically died in the American Airlines level clang successful Washington, DC. 

The clip, which appeared to beryllium recoded by a passenger, showed a bubbly Ian Epstein, 53, chatting with passengers connected an earlier flight, 'having amusive and reminding everyone however important we are.' 

'Ian was the idiosyncratic who made customers consciousness similar they were successful archetypal class, adjacent if their spot was successful the past row,' the user who shared the video wrote successful the caption. 

Epstein was 1 of 64 radical killed connected the fateful formation from Wichita, Kanas, which collided with a US Army Black Hawk chopper connected Wednesday nighttime implicit Potomac River successful DC. Three radical connected committee the chopper besides died.

'We cognize the crushed we person jobs is due to the fact that you guys are flying. We emotion you, we admit you,' Epstein said successful the video, aft cracking jokes arsenic helium spoke implicit the intercom. 

Passengers tin beryllium heard laughing and applauding passim the clip.  

'We person rules connected my airplane, truthful marque definite you're pursuing them astatine each times. There is perfectly positively not to beryllium 1 ounce of mopiness oregon groaning connected this plane,' Epstein said portion offering up immoderate 'dad jokes.' 

'I was a comedian for 27 years. I spent 14 years arsenic a stuntman successful Hollywood, which is wherefore my caput is shaped this way. You can't marque amusive of my head,' helium said. 

While joking astir the magnitude of the flight, helium said: 'Sit backmost unbend and fto america pamper you connected this 3 hr - guys we're regional, we lone spell 5 miles an hour. We'll get determination eventually, you're fortunate this airplane has wings for crying retired loud... I'm conscionable kidding.'

'Welcome to our house... Sit back, unbend and let's person a large day,' helium concluded, earlier jumping backmost connected the intercom to gag immoderate more.

Epstein was remembered by his household arsenic idiosyncratic who 'made friends everyplace helium went.' 

He had worked arsenic a formation attendant for galore years and leaves down 2 children and 2 stepchildren, according to his sister Robbie Bloom.  

'He utilized to speech astir the radical helium met connected the level arsenic if they were each caller friends,' Bloom told CNN.

'My member was a wonderful, fantastic man. He loved life. He loved traveling. He loved his job. He loved his family, and helium volition beryllium sorely missed,' she said.  

Many commenters connected the video said they had erstwhile had Epstein arsenic a formation attendant.

'He gave specified a large code astatine the extremity of our formation astir being benignant to 1 different during the vacation season,' wrote one, who said Epstein worked a travel she took from New York to Charlotte connected Christmas Eve. 

'I don’t retrieve galore formation attendants, but I bash retrieve him! We had a superrr aboriginal formation and helium made it truthful enjoyable. What a loss,' different wrote. 

'[J]ust flew from Daytona to Charlotte with him connected Monday, helium was the sweetest feline ever and gave maine a escaped liter of h2o connected the mode disconnected due to the fact that helium said helium didn't privation maine to wage for 1 successful the airport,' a 3rd said.

Colleagues reflected connected however amusive it was to enactment with Epstein, and however helium made their jobs that overmuch much enjoyable. 

'I worked with him, helium was similar this connected each formation and successful the unit room,' 1 commented. 'He was a existent gem. He volition beryllium missed.'

Another workfellow told CNN that Epstein was a 'ball of vibrant, colorful energy.' 

'We emotion our job. We get up each day, a batch of america bash it due to the fact that we conscionable emotion people, careless of pay,' said workfellow Garrick McFadden. 'But Ian decidedly was 1 of the top examples of [that]. I miss him.' 

Epstein lived successful Charlotte on with different members of the formation crew.

His ex-wife, Debi Epstein, told the Charlotte Observer that they person 2 children together, including a girl who's getting joined successful 8 weeks.

Epstein had been moving connected the disastrous formation alongside chap formation attendant Danasia Elder, 34, and pilots, Captain Jonathan Campos, 34, and First Officer Samuel Lilley, 29. 

Campos was calved successful New York but grew up successful Florida. He attended the Epic Flight Academy wherever helium was certified arsenic a formation teacher successful 2017 and arsenic a commercialized hose aviator 1 twelvemonth later, according to the company's records.

His uncle Hector Campos told DailyMail.com that his nephew lived for the aviation business: 'He loved it.'

Newly engaged Lilley was months distant from being promoted to captain, his begetter said successful an exclusive interrogation with DailyMail.com.