Airman recalls fatal crash that cost him two friends

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Amaani Lyle
  • 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany --  Black sneakers. Boston baseball cap. Black shirt. Boots.

“It’s so clear, I can still remember what they were wearing,” recalls Airman 1st Class Skyler Burts, of his friends and fellow firemen who perished in a single-vehicle automobile accident in August 2005.

The memories, much like the scar tissue etched across Airman Burts’s forehead, are probably permanent. Still, the 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron firefighter cited faith, friends and family for helping him cope with the life-changing ordeal.

Spangdahlem Air Base’s central location and idyllic country drives to several nearby countries make road trips common among Airmen of all ranks here.

So when 52nd CES firefighters Senior Airman Timothy Alford and Airman 1st Class Erik Salazar opted to take a drive to a popular nightclub near the German-Netherlands border, Airman Burts obliged to join them.

He even offered his car. The decision would alter the course of three lives.

Airman Burts said he and his two friends stayed at the club dancing and socializing until nearly 6 a.m. the next morning. Airman Alford was known to frequent clubs and stay out late, without ever having a drop of alcohol. This particular night was no exception.

“Tim just always knew how to have a good time -- completely sober,” Airman Burts said. “He had so much energy that he’d usually only need a 30- or 40-minute power nap and he was cool.”

Winding down from the club, the Airmen decided to listen to music on the drive back to base.

“We had the CD player going because I had just bought some new music I wanted Tim to hear,” Airman Burts said. “We also had it playing loud enough that I figured it would keep everyone awake.”

But a lack of sleep soon overtook each of them. In an instant, a “power nap” became the division between a normal life and complete chaos.

Airman Burts said he awoke from a short snooze his eyes blurry.

He wiped them, thinking they were unfocused because hed slept for a little while.

Autobahn lights illuminated a jarring amount of blood that covered his hand as he pulled it away from his head and eye. He turned to Airman Alford, who lay motionless slumped over the steering wheel.

“What the hell you just hit man,” Airman Burts woozily asked.

Airman Burts’ first thought was that the vehicle had struck some wildlife in the road. He immediately slapped a non-responsive Airman Alford to wake him.

His shock and terror intensified when he looked in the back seat of the sedan, only to find it empty.

“The back door was completely off the hinges and Erik was nowhere to be found,” he said. “Right then and there, I started flipping out,” the Airman said. “I didn’t care what might have been wrong with me -- I just ran into the middle of the Autobahn to wave down anyone who could call for help.”

Help soon arrived, and as blood continued to run into his eye, Airman Burts directed emergency response units to Airman Alford, and also managed to spot Airman Salazar clinging to life about 50 feet away from the scene.

Adrenaline surged through his body as he explained to paramedics what he remembered of the accident, but responders soon realized Airman Burts had a concussion and they remained concerned that he might pass out.

“Are my friends OK?” Airman Burts repeatedly asks as Airman Alford, through crushed ribs, emitted a choke and gurgle as paramedics pumped his chest.

They’re gone

“On the way to the hospital, one of the paramedics kept asking me about my family to keep me awake,” Airman Burts said. “I knew she didn’t want me to fall asleep, but I wasn’t really thinking about my family, I just thought about Tim and Erik and what I was going to tell their families.”

Sleep was the last thing on his mind when he arrived at the hospital.

“I just kept asking, what about my friends, what about my friends?”

A doctor emerged with a response.

“Your friends are gone,” he said.

“Gone where? To another hospital?”

“No. Just gone ... forever,” the doctor replied. He said Airman Alford died at the scene and Airman Salazar died shortly upon arrival to the hospital.

Reality set in when a 52nd Security Forces Squadron member brought him a bag containing his deceased friends’ blood-soaked cell phones and money.

A subsequent investigation revealed that Airman Alford’s fatigue after a long night of clubbing was the sole cause of the mishap.

Master Sgt. James Douglas, 52nd Fighter Wing ground safety manager, explained the vehicle, traveling at a high rate of speed, continued straight as the Autobahn lane curved right. The vehicle slid about 25-feet along the top of a dipped guardrail before slamming into a light pole. The car then spun 180 degrees, and returned to the guardrail before crashing back on to the road.

Airman Salazar, sans seatbelt, was thrown from the car, and the steering wheel fatally crushed Airman Alford’s ribcage. Most of the car was destroyed except for the passenger seat where Airman Burts sat.

Road to recovery

“I thank God for every day that I’m here,” Airman Burts said. “Some people wondered if I could kill myself after something like this, but I could never kill myself. My life is too precious. Tomorrow’s a better day.”

During the next couple of weeks and his subsequent transfer to the Bitburg Annex Hospital, Airman Burts said he found himself showered with the friendship, caring and concern of his fellow wing members.

“I really have to thank the fire department, the St. Vith and Bitburg Annex hospital staffs, and so many others who helped me get through this to keep me sane without pitying me,” Airman Burts said.

Airman Burts said wing leaders also reached out to show their support.

“Chief Kelly told me that God kept me here for a reason -- to realize my potential,” Airman Burts said of Chief Master Sgt. Jimmy Kelly, 52nd FW command chief.

Other close friends also availed themselves to help Airman Burts cope.

“I reassured him that this wasn’t his fault, and I would be there to help any way I could,” said Tech. Sgt. Roderick Milbrooks, 52nd CES station captain. “I’m a big brother for him to lean on, until he can stand alone and deal with the horrific accident that took two wonderful people too soon.”

Making such a difference in someone’s life is apparently all in a day’s work for firefighters.

“His extended firefighter family was there for him -- but we only did, without a moment’s hesitation, what any other firefighter would have done,” said Master Sgt. James Wenger, 52nd CES assistant fire chief of operations.

Perhaps the best guidance of all came from Airman Salazar’s mother, Gabriela Rojas.

“His mother called and told me she’s heartbroken that her son is gone, but she can still find happiness in her life,” Airman Burts said. “She said, ‘Remember that you’re still alive -- live your life.’”

Airman Burts said he plans to do just that.

“All I need is to embrace my life, my wife and my son,” he said. “I don’t need nothin’ else,” he said.