16 June 2006 17:39
a friend of mine died in a plane crash on monday. Steve and i'd gone through ground school together in late '04, then ran into each other three or four times since in the course of business. most recently he'd filled in a month ago (in may) for paul while paul was at manager's conference. he hadn't flown dispersal in jamaica before, so i spent two days flying right seat with him to teach him the ropes and we had a lot of good conversations.he was a careful pilot, making sure he took the time to do it right. he'd been flying a lot longer than me, but i hope i have the same humility as he did whenever i fly with a lower-time pilot.
statistically, aviation is very safe for the passengers and quite safe for the pilots. but the aviation community is such a small one that anyone who's been in the business for long enough will lose a friend or at least an aquaintence to an aviation accident. it appears i am not to be exempt.
however, this crash did/does not affect me much. yes, it was sobering to hear the news and to know that someone i spent a week working side by side with just one month ago is now dead. but that hits you from the same "life is short/fragile" perspective that you would feel when anybody with many years left to live dies in a car wreck of from cancer. i entered a career in aviation knowing the risks and accepting them as part of the job, so hearing that somebody else who accepted the same risks died is in one emotionless sense "no news".
instead, what affects me most is remembering how he spent a significant part of his time down here talking about his wife and kids (four of them, toddler to middle-school i think). having them suddenly lose their father like that seems like a crying shame and i wonder what the LORD is up to. i expect they will weather the storm. as christians, they know where he is and have the comfort of a strong church family. ...but that doesn't mean it will be fun. but it's made me think a little bit about career versus family. from one angle it just means more risks.
steve had gone through my pictures while he was down here to pick out some good ariel shots for his daughters to use in their schhol project on jamaica. now i need to finish naming them and get them emailed to his wife. life goes on...
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. Isaiah 55.8
17:39 email me permalink / commentary (0)
