FedEx Steps Up To Support Grieving Family

While preparing for their daughter’s recent memorial service, the parents of 18-year-old Elizabeth “Lake” Little received a surprise package from FedEx. The Starkville, Mississippi teen was performing touch-and-goes on July 6, practicing for her private pilot checkride, when her Cessna 172 crashed on a local golf course. She did not survive.

Robin Sebasco, system chief pilot for FedEx, learned from another company pilot that Little’s career ambition had been to become a FedEx pilot someday.

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In a letter accompanying the package, addressed to Little’s parents and two siblings, Sebasco wrote, “On behalf of the 5,000 pilots of FedEx, I would like to offer our sincere deepest sympathies in your time of grief.” The letter continued, “I wanted to reach out and let you know [Lake] was on the right track, pursuing a dream centered around the love for aviation which few people can fully understand. Her courage, determination, and persistence were the exact qualities that make the best pilots, and it is with deep regret that I learned of her accident, as her loss is a loss for all aviators.”

The package contained a set of FedEx pilot wings.

On Wednesday, Little’s parents posted on Facebook, “In addition to gaining her heavenly wings this week, she received her FedEx pilot wings as well, which was her goal-driven dream."