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| Weird day |
| 06.13.05 (10:25 pm) [edit] |
Today was a very strange day. We had a fairly large vintage cargo plane crash just down the road, what a scare that was.There was a DC-3 that flew out of our local airport from time to time, used as a cargo plane to haul stuff back and forth from the Bahamas. I always instantly recognize the sound of those old radial engines, and usually run outside to see the plane as it takes off (the flight path is literally over my house, maybe two blocks to the north). This time, I didn't for some reason. I wasn't feeling well and didn't feel like getting up, and I had loud music on. I remember thinking that it sounded louder and lower than usual, but didn't think much of it at the time. Dad came home about ten minutes later and called me outside, "Hey something happened to the east of us. I see smoke and there's news helicopters everywhere." It didn't look like that much smoke, so I thought maybe something happened with the road-work crews, and went back inside. I remember thinking how loud that DC-3 had sounded, but quickly dismissed it and returned to my nap. A while later, Dad was on the phone and ran into my room, "They think it's the DC-3!" We ran in the kitchen and turned on the news and sure enough, there was the burning hulk of that once-beautiful airplane on the screen, fire crews working frantically to put it out. I was close to tears, because it looked like nobody could've possibly survived, and I thought to myself, I heard those pilots in their last moments... What an awful feeling. About half an hour later, we learned that both the pilots and a possible third passenger had survived. What a relief. Had this been a modern plane, there's no way they would have survived, it would've cracked right up. DC-3's are tough like tanks, they can take a beating and still pull through. What these pilots pulled off is nothing short of a miracle. As developed as it is here in South Florida, they belly-landed this thing (with a 95-foot wingspan) on a two-lane street. A couple people on the ground were injured, but I don't think it's anything life threatening. As far as I know, no houses were damaged beyond repair, only a couple cars were banged up and some trees torn down. Those are some darn good pilots, to have skills like that. It's not like crash-landing a Cessna or something - a DC-3 weighs 30,000 pounds, empty!   Another thing I'm thankful for, besides the crew's survival; kind of a strange thing. Dad and our friend Darrell were on their way home from a job, and they always turn on the street the plane-crash was, but since that street is being worked on at the moment, Dad said, "Hey turn left here instead, to avoid the construction." The timing was perfect. If they hadn't have turned onto that road when they did, they would have been on the other street at the exact same time the plane crashed. I know God is there, but stuff like this really brings it to sharp reality and makes you thankful. Everybody was in the right place at the right time. What if the plane hadn't gone down when it did? They more than likely would have crashed into the ocean, and probably would not have survived. And if Dad and Darrell had been on that road they'd be dead. I've just found out that the plane was taking a load of marble or granite to the Bahamas. I bet they over-loaded it and it was too heavy for a proper take-off. Either that or engine failure. Another strange thing - our friend Charlie called a few hours ago to see if we were okay. Before he saw the crash on the news, he suddenly had a bad feeling about Dad, right out of the blue. Dad should've been there... I also wonder why I didn't run outside to see the DC-3 as it flew over, as I always do. Something said to me, Hey, just forget about it and stay inside this time. I'm glad I did. I would've seen it crash. Those pilots are lucky, God was on their side. I still can't believe anybody could've survived that. They got out right away, just before it burst into flames. Now I can't help but think about Ronnie Van Zant and the other Skynyrd members who died in the 1977 plane crash. It made their deaths hit home a bit a more. I can't imagine what their last moments were like. But I'm happy everything turned out okay, this time. I'll really miss that airplane though. There's just nothing like sitting inside at the computer or whatever, then suddenly hearing those big, beautiful, throaty engines going right over your house, and trying to run out the door to see it as quickly as possible (without tripping)! There's a bright moment of the day though! Two model dinosaurs that I had ordered both came in the mail today! I was high as a kite. In A.E.'s words, "Well, if saved lives and new dinos aren't enough to make you celebrate, I don't know what is??" |
posted by: aesav23 (reply)
post date: 06.14.05 (5:44 am)
"Well, if saved lives and new dinos aren't enough to make you celebrate, I don't know what is??"
Right?!
posted by: dustyjumpwings (reply)
post date: 06.14.05 (4:22 pm)
Reply to: aesav23
Yeah boy!
posted by: Kelly (reply)
post date: 06.14.05 (8:17 pm)
I heard about the crash down here too, and I was shocked to hear it was a Goony.. I'm so glad though too everyone survived.. and you are so right.. Sometimes it hits you like that, how it was not just concidence, and things fall so perfectly into place.
posted by: dustyjumpwings (reply)
post date: 06.15.05 (8:12 pm)
Reply to: Kelly
I can't remember it, but Dad told me another DC-3 had crashed in the last couple years up in Boca or Deerfield too :o(
