When Kyla Kennedy arrived for her shift at Stooges Bar and Grill on Tuesday, she didn’t expect to leave in sheer panic, grabbing her belongings and urging other patrons to do the same.
Kennedy was serving a customer a beer outside when she saw the UPS cargo plane crash.
“Seeing all of my friends and co-workers and customers in panic — it was like a movie, unreal,” she told CNN’s Brianna Keilar and Boris Sanchez on Wednesday.
Kennedy got in her car and drove across the street to escape harm’s way but recalls feeling the ground shake as the plane crashed. She said the intense heat felt by everyone nearby was terrifying.
Behind the bar are volleyball courts where patrons play, Kennedy said. The plane was so close it appeared to be hovering over the courts.
Kennedy, who is used to the noise of planes routinely flying over the bar, said the possibility of a crash had crossed her mind before. “But you don’t ever think it would happen to you,” she said.
“And then when it does, you don’t even know how to deal with it or think about it,” she added. “It’s like something you have to see every single day in your mind, over and over and over.”
While Kennedy doesn’t know any of the victims personally, she said a frequent customer is still searching for a significant other.
“We’re just praying that everyone is safe,” she said, adding she’s “really sad for the lives that were lost.”