Oh No, Not Again!

Yesterday I decided that I was finally going to get to my back room and get it cleaned out. I got done later in the afternoon and was sitting and enjoying the clean room. Gary had gone to the airport to check on our new hire, Patricia. A few minutes later he called to tell me that another airplane had crashed. As I was walking toward the airport I spotted the wreckage and two young men walking toward the terminal. I was so glad that they were out and walking. At first look it didn't look like the crash was too bad but after walking to the plane, I found that these two young men were very lucky to be alive.

The weather was pretty crazy. One minute the wind was blowing and the next, it was calm. When they got to the end of the runway they reported that the wind was calm and they were going to proceed with the planned take off, however when the pilot lifted off a gust of wind caught the wing and it was all in God's hands at that point. The left wing hit first and sent them down hard, hitting the prop, which broke into pieces and was spread all over the runway. Both wheels came off, one rolling down the opposite runway. They spun in a circle heading back in the opposite direction finally coming to a stop. They said it all happened in a matter of seconds.

They were both pretty shook up and kept reminding each other that the plane was not the important thing, they were alive! I felt so bad for them. A pilot thinks of his aircraft as his "baby" even more so than their vehicle. Gary and I ended up driving them to Gallup, New Mexico to meet a friend. We had dinner with them while we waited for their ride to show up. As they sat, the soreness began to set in. They kept saying that they were just glad to be alive and so might I add were we. The video of that scene will replay in their minds for days on end. They had just picked this plane up in October and had begun to enjoy it. The pilot said he was done flying but we encouraged him to get up and get back to it. He had just gotten his license a year ago. They were great guys. We hope all goes well for them. We just hope this isn't the beginning of another round of crashes. We have had enough already!!