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| Sue Tierney... |
 Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 2:52 am |
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Guest
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The media is calling the splash landing that occurred on January 15,
the "miracle on the Hudson River." The US Airliner plummeted into the
frigid waters of the Hudson River. I found out about the accident that
happened at 3:26 p.m. as I was doing some editing for a project I was
working on. I knew about almost every major airline crash that has
occurred. Do you remember the Value Jet that went down in the
Everglades? I do. How about the airline that crashed into the Potomac
River? I do. Or, the plane that crashed a few years ago while taking
off out of Lexington, Kentucky? I do. I do, because I have a terrible
fear of flying. I read the accounts, I thought of the people who had
survived and the ones that had perished. I thought about their
families. I thought about the survivors and what they thought post
crash.
I developed a system to rate hour fearful I might feel about a flight.
It was my "scare" system. I would assign a flight I was taking as a
two scare, four scare, eight scare, etc. If it was a two scare, then I
would be taking a direct flight and would be going up and then down =
two times that I would be scared. Every time the plane would take off
THAT was a scare for me. When it landed, it was another scare. two
scare meant that I had another means of transportation to arrive back
home. A few years back, I took a trip to Ireland, England and Wales.
It was about a fourteen scare! We flew from Florida to Newark, from
Newark to London, from Wales to Dublin, from Dublin to Wales, from
London to Newark from Newark to Atlanta (the weather was SO bad that
we missed our connecting flight. My daughters and I spent the night in
Atlanta Airport), and then Atlanta to home. I share this information
to let the reader know that I fly. I am just terrified to do so...
every time!
After reading everything that I could get my hands on about the 155
survivors of the Hudson River crash, I began telling myself that this
was IT! I wasn't going to fly any more! Just a few months ago, I had
taken a flight from St. Louis to Orlando (it was an eight scare!), and
I thought that the flight from Memphis to Orlando did me in. It was
such a rough flight that the captain told all of us, "Remain in your
seat. Do not leave your seats for the duration of the flight! There
will be no beverages passed except for water." It was so bad that I
asked the lady sitting next to me, "Do you have any drugs with you?"
She laughed, and said, "Oh, honey, don't be afraid." I finally asked
the flight attendant, "Can I PLEASE have a Rum and water?" I had never
had Rum with water, but I needed some liquid courage at this point
because the lady sitting next to me didn't have any drugs (Xanax,
Ativan, (I am a nurse). The flight attendant finally brought me a
drink. It wasn't Rum and water but an actual Rum and Coke. The charge?
Nothing. She winked at me and said, "Here, maybe this will help you!"
I knew they thought I was just going to become totally unglued if they
didn't give me something! I was SO scared.
I have went on line and I have read all about turbulence... what
causes it... if it causes airplanes to crash, etc. I didn't know that
I should have also read about birds flying into and getting caught in
engines. I called my daughter Sarah, who was my partner in fear of
flying. She hadn't heard about the crash as she hadn't had her
television or computer turned on in the last day or so. I was telling
her every detail. I was telling her how the pilot had been a former
military pilot, how the men and women who worked on the ferry boats in
the Hudson River had helped rescue people, and how there were women,
infants and children on board like any typical flight would hold. It
was then that I told me daughter, "I am not flying any more!"
My daughter and I are both women of faith. This recent airline crash
tested my ability to have faith while flying. My next to the youngest
daughter was able to jerk me back to reality when I declared that I
wasn't going to fly any more. "Mom," she said. "Last year a girl died
moments after riding a roller coaster. Do you really think that she
thought that this was going to be her last day?" "Surely not," my
daughter said. She then told me about an incident that had happened
just the other day. She shared that her husband wanted some heat on
his seat. My daughter had never used that feature in her automobile,
but it was now a little over 3 degrees outside in Pittsburgh and the
deep chill could be felt in the car despite the regular heating
system. She was fumbling for the seat heater button when all of a
sudden she glanced up and saw a huge tow truck about fifty feet from
their car! She said, "Mom, we almost died yesterday!"
I am a Christian. In the Scriptures, Jesus tells us that we know not
the time or hour that will be our last. So, be prepared. I have
decided that I won't let the Lexington crash, the Everglades tragedy,
or the more recent US Airline that hit the Hudson River deter me from
flying. It is safer than driving per all mathematical calculations.
Flying is quick and relatively inexpensive. I will still use my scare
system. I will still be scared every time that I board a plane for
take off but I will also keep in mind that when it is my time, it will
be MY time. Every day people die from what would be deemed a
ridiculous cause ... choking on a hamburger or falling on ice. We
can't live in fear, otherwise, we won't live. I am sure many of the
passengers who escaped near death on Flight 1549, will once again
board a plane. They would probably even board a US airline plane ...
after all, they survived the Miracle on the Hudson.
http://groups.google.com/group/cheapsairfare/ |
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