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Plane crashes and traffic accidents
The first thing I read this morning was the news about the plane crash of Flight 3047, a stark contrast to the landing of Flight 1549 into the Hudson. Perhaps, this is why Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III has down played his role as a hero. One different step and the outcome could have been the terrible version. The version that makes someone's heart stop for a second and think, "There but for the grace of God go I."
Tom wrote about Beverly Eckert's death in Flight 3047's crash which adds more drama to an already over the top story. When I read the news story, I flashed to all the times I've heard planes when visiting my aunt who lives in Florence, Kentucky right under the flight pattern of the Greater Cincinnati Airport. At certain times of the day, if you're in the backyard, you have to pause a conversation because the noise is so loud. My in laws who live near Hopkins International Airport in Cleveland have a bit of the same problem, but not quite as bad.
If you think about all the planes that fly low over buildings every day, making smooth landings or taking off with ease, it's astounding. The principles of physics and our abilities to ward off disasters mostly work like clockwork. Still, when one reads about an accident such as Flight 3047, all the safe flights seem diminished somehow.
We wonder if we'll be lucky enough to have a Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III piloting the plane, or someone else, even if the someone else was just at the wrong place at the wrong time, just like a traffic accident where the road was unexpectedly slick and a car slid through an intersection to plow into oncoming traffic. Car crashes, much more common, barely last in our thoughts past the few minutes we saw them, unless we recount the tale when we arrive at our destination.
Plane crashes have a way of sticking with us. Maybe that's why there's a higher anxiety when people fly. Heavy people, whiny children, crowded overhead bins, no snacks, a delay--all add to feelings that something awful could happen. It's easier to transfer our feelings of a lack of control to the people who are sitting next to us than wondering what might come next. I'm just musing here. But, it's a thought. Still it is safer to fly--and most car accidents happen closer to home. Like everyone else, I'm wondering what could have possibly happened to cause such a tragedy.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Emland Feb 13th 2009 12:33PM
It's "There but for the grace of God go I."
Nicole Feb 13th 2009 9:19AM
I too woke up to the sad news of Colgan 3407. This crash really hit home for me because Buffalo International is an airport my husband regularly flies to, in a plane of similar capacity. My heart goes out to the families of the crashes. I too posted about the accident this morning:
http://www.cuteculturechick.com/2009/02/colgan-3407.html
Jamie Rhein Feb 13th 2009 1:46PM
Nicole, I read your post. Well done. I agree with your take on miracles. It is a loaded word that strives to make sense of some of life's happenings.
That you have a personal relationship to the airport certainly heightens your awareness, that's for sure.
All the best
Aimee Feb 18th 2009 8:04PM
Nicole,
Although you are annoyed that people are calling landing of US Airways Flight 1549 a miracle, I do think it was indeed a miracle for many reasons and by saying so I am in no way minimizing the excellent job that everyone did. Sully was the man for the flight. That in and of itself is miraculous. He was the one scheduled to fly that plane on that day and there couldn't have been a better person to do it. We are God's hands and his feet and I don't think enough people are giving God the glory in this situation. So many things could have gone wrong, but instead everything lined up perfectly right, from the landing which is being touted as one of the most historical things in aviation history,
to the rescuers who responded before the plane sunk, to the fact that the plane stayed in one piece, the back windows wouldn't open which was a blessing because if they did the water would have flooded in and sank the plane. It was frigid temperatures and everyone survived. Not one person lost. I believe the photo of the people standing on the wings was a metaphor as they looked as if they were standing on the water as Jesus did. When such perfect synchronicity happens in a situation, only God can have orchestrated it that way.
Nicole Feb 19th 2009 10:40PM
I've gotten notifications via email six times on this comment now, so I suppose I need to clarify.
Aimee, I do agree with what you have said. I do think you misread the intent of my comment about US Airways 1549 from my blog. I have read several news stories that have put a very strange spin on the story, which have made it seem that any other pilot, save Sully, would have caused a disastrous crash. This is not so. I know that my husband has received excellent safety training through his airline. He is nowhere near as experienced as Sully, but I have faith that MANY pilots in commercial aviation would have had the capacity to land the plane safely. The emergency procedures were expertly exectued, and I do believe God's hand was active in the sucessful splash landing.
Does this make sense? I'm absolutely not anti-miracle, but I think credit does need to go overall to pilots who have safety procedures and flows so ingrained in their muscle memory that they would have the capacity to save lives. My husband was involved in a birdstrike that nearly required a belly landing, but he and the captain followed the safety requirements and successfully landed with no injury. Unfortunately, Colgan's flight resulted in the worst case scenario...but I have faith that the pilots and crew members who perished were on top of their game - following safety procedures a best they could in an impossible situation.
Thanh T. Feb 13th 2009 9:35AM
(I’m curious about aircraft aerodynamic [curve] wingtip designs... would a more efficient curve wingtip design have helped keep some aircrafts stable at certain speeds-conditions in the air and while approaching landing-runways??? )
I think when we travel; a lot of emergency type scenarios often go through our minds.
Very sad news this morning.
Please send our condolences to the family and relatives of Flight 3047.
Jamie Rhein Feb 13th 2009 1:46PM
Thanks, Emland! While I was driving this morning I thought that it should have been "but." "by" certainly adds a different meaning!