Wade Berzas, a parishioner of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, is the sole survivor of a Lafayette plane crash that claimed the lives of five others on Dec. 28.
Rev. Patrick S. Broussard, with OLSH, said, "We are concerned for him and praying for him because he has a long road to recovery ahead of him. Praying for him is the biggest thing for him right now. Even his doctors are saying his faith will play a big part in his recovery."
Broussard said many of those in the Church Point community know Berzas, and he urged those who would like to talk about the tragedy to reach out to the church.
"Call the church — don't keep it bottled up," Broussard said.
A rosary was hosted for Berzas, a native of Mamou, at the church on Dec. 29.
A Dec. 28 social media post from the church stated the following: "Please pray for Mr. Wade Berzas who was involved in the plane crash today in Lafayette! He is in critical care in the hospital."
Berzas, 37, heads up the church's men's group "That Man is You."
Berzas and the others on board the plane were traveling from the Lafayette Regional Airport to Atlanta, Georgia for the 2019 Peach Bowl when the plane crashed just over a minute after takeoff. The plane crashed near a U.S. post office at the corner of Verot School and Feu Follet roads in Lafayette.
Those killed in the crash were identified as the plane's pilot Ian E. Biggs, 51, Robert Vaughn Crisp II, 59, Carley Ann McCord, 30, Gretchen D. Vincent, 51, and Michael Walker Vincent, 15.
One person in the post office's parking lot was injured during the crash, and two others inside the post office also received injuries.
Berzas is being treated at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Lafayette.
On Dec. 30, Dr. Joey Barrios, director of the hospital's burn unit, gave an update on Berzas's condition.
Barrios said, "Mr. Berzas has several things working in his favor — his young age, his overall good health, his strong family support and his unwavering faith. He has a long journey ahead and will take this day by day."
Berzas has undergone at least one surgery to further assess his wounds from the crash and to provide temporary biologic dressings to the burn areas.
Barrios said Berzas was conscious when he arrived at the hospital following the crash, and he was later sedated and put on a breathing tube.
"He did not have an inhalation injury or burn into his lungs, which certainly would have made the situation much worse," the doctor added.
Barrios continued, "We, as a medical community and staff here at Lourdes, we continue to pray for Mr. Berzas, his family and the strength that they are all going to need to pull through this."
On Dec. 30, Berzas's family issued the following statement via media:
"The outpouring of compassion and encouraging words for Wade are deeply felt by our whole family. We are truly grateful to be held so strongly in prayer by this community. We thank you for the special gift of prayers and rosaries dedicated to Wade's healing. Our hearts ache for our friends and the families affected by this tragic event. Please offer us privacy in the days ahead as we give Wade our focused energy and loving support."
During a Dec. 29 press conference, National Transportation Safety Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg said that investigators were not able to make any analysis or speculate on what led to the crash.
The NTSB hosted another press conference on Dec. 30 to release more information on the crash.
Landsberg said that there was no distress call issued from the airplane prior to the crash and that there was no cockpit voice recorder on board the aircraft.
He said that all four corners of the aircraft were identified in the plane's wreckage.
"That's very important because it tells us that the airplane was in one piece when it made the first contact with the ground — it did not come apart in mid air," Landsberg said. "The flaps appear to be up, which would be a flight configuration as opposed to a landing configuration, so we think we have ascertained that."
Landsberg also said that a witness of the crash stated that the plane's landing gear was in the up position.
As the investigation continues, the NTSB is requesting that any witnesses of the crash please contact the NTSB. The NTSB also asked that those in the area, from half a mile to a mile radius from the crash site who have nest cameras on doorbells, houses or in trees, contact the NTSB, even if the data from the camera is only audio of the plane and subsequent crash.
"This morning, we did get a very good video recovery," Landsberg said. "We are not able to show it to you at this point because we just got it this morning, but it gives us a very clear picture of what the airplane was doing as it came out of the clouds, so that will help us to understand what the witnesses saw or thought they saw."
Landsberg said the video is a surveillance video.
Landsberg said a preliminary report on the crash would likely be issued in another one to two weeks, and the final report would likely be issued in 12 to 18 months.
"It takes as long is it takes to make sure we get it right," Landsberg said.
The press conference was the NTSB's final on scene briefing and updates on the investigation will be posted to the NTSB's newsroom Twitter account.
