The crash of ValuJet 592 has hit very close to home. A Raleigh woman was expecting her son to arrive home to celebrate mother's day. But a phone call from one of her son's friends revealed that her son was on board the ill-fated flight.
Andrew Nevil, 27, had flown to Miami. An avid Philadelphia Flyers fan, he wanted to watch his team in the Stanley Cup playoffs. But Andrew also wanted to surprise his mom for Mother's day. So he boarded Valujet Flight 592 a day earlier to fly home to Raleigh. no survivors or bodies have been recovered from the crash.
The Nevils and friends have been waiting by the phone, hoping to hear word about Andrew. Nevil's best friend, Patrick Estling, spoke Sunday for the Nevil family.
Estling describes Andrew as the kind of man who believed in helping everyone, particularly young people. He graduated from Millbrook High School in Raleigh, completed his undergraduate degree at Lees-McRae college and earned his master's degree at Appalachian State University. He worked as a residence coordinator for Eastern Kentucky University. He was hoping to return to Raleigh to work at a college here and be close to his family again.
"He was like my brother," Estling said.
Andrew Nevil was unmarried and has no children. In addition to his parents, he has two sisters. All of them live in Raleigh.
Five other people from North Carolina were aboard Flight 592 -- Anthony and Lynn Brown of Rose Hill, Elizabeth Gabriel of Mooresville, and Dan and Linda Jarvis of Gastonia
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