VIDEO: American Airlines captain gives heartfelt message to passengers on Miami flight
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (WFLA) — A passenger on an American Airlines flight bound for Miami captured the captain’s heartfelt words in a video taken a day after a deadly plane crash near Washington, D.C.

Instagram user Leighton Mixon started recording just as the captain came over the intercom. The captain started out by saying he understood that some passengers might be feeling fearful about flying.

“That’s certainly understandable, but just please know that my first officer, and our flight attendants, and myself, place your safety and the responsibility of carrying you to Miami to your families or vacations at the highest level,” the captain said. “I have no higher calling than carefully, professionally transporting you today.”

In the video, Mixon wrote that those were the exact words he and everyone else on flight AA1044 needed to hear before their takeoff from Jacksonville.

Just a day earlier, an American Airlines jet collided with a military helicopter while coming in for a landing at Reagan National Airport. The jet, which was carrying 64 people, then crashed into the Potomac River. Three people were aboard the helicopter.

Rescue crews said there were no survivors, making the crash one of the deadliest in U.S. history.

“Life is short, hug your people,” Mixon wrote in his Instagram caption.

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