When her 14-year-old son died in a tragic plane crash that injured her husband and their other son, Susan Saint James’ first thought was to make sure others were okay.
After the actress died at age 80 of pancreatic cancer on October 26, 2026, Saint James’ family mentioned the tragedy in a statement that described Saint James’ response to the heartbreaking crash as a defining act in her life. Teddy Ebersol, who perished in the crash, was one of her five kids; Teddy was her son with NBC executive Dick Ebersol.
The Kate & Allie star’s handling of that tragedy symbolizes her personality, her family said in the statement to People. “Her defining act: weeks after losing her youngest son, Teddy, in the November 28, 2004 plane crash, she delivered his eulogy as a note to each of her other children and her husband, giving them words to heal,” the family’s statement said. “Even in the deepest grief of her life, she put everyone else first. Days after the crash she sat with Tim Russert to thank the people who had reached out and to tell them the family was okay.”
What Happened in the Plane Crash That Killed Teddy Ebersol?
The Gainesville Sun described a heartbreaking scene after the plane crashed in Colorado on that snowy day in November 2004. “Can you please help get him out?” Charlie Ebersol, Saint James’ other son, said to bystanders, referring to his brother, Teddy, who was still trapped inside the wreckage.
A witness described how their father – and Saint James’ long-time husband – Dick Ebersol “sat on the snowy ground amid the billowing smoke and chunks of wreckage, rocking back and forth in complete shock.”
Dick and Charlie Ebersol survived the crash, but two crew members and Teddy did not. “You could tell he was in shock. Both of them had been ripped out of their shoes,” said Doug Percival, a driver at a towing service, according to The Gainesville Sun. He was referring to Dick and Charlie.
The Ebersol Plane Crashed in a Snowstorm
What was the cause of the crash? The plane tried to take off during a snowstorm in Colorado in 2004.
The plane was trying to take off from the Montrose Regional Airport and burst into flames. CBS News published photos showing smoke billowing from the scene.
Saint James spoke to Oprah about the tragedy. ”Here’s the bad part … I’ve never touched his clothes, I’ve never been able to move his things,” Saint James said of Teddy, according to The Los Angeles Daily News.
Pilot Luis Alberto Polanco, 50, and flight attendant Warren Richardson III also died, the newspaper reported. Dick Ebersol appeared on Oprah’s show alongside his wife and revealed that their son Charlie acted heroically at the scene.
“He not only got me off of the plane … he ran back into the plane, which had 3- or 4-foot flames all around it, to look for his brother one more time, not knowing that his brother wasn’t on the plane,” Dick told Oprah. “And he lived through hell for two days ’cause somehow or other he thought he hadn’t found his brother and it wasn’t until they found Teddy’s body which was under the plane … that he knew that he had done everything he possibly could do.”
Susan Saint James’ Son Teddy Ebersol Died in a Tragic Plane Crash—And Her 1st Thought Was for Others