The Only Sure Road Out - Air Florida Flight 90

By now many of us are feeling a little overwhelmed with more and more news -- of job layoffs, business closings, foreclosures, and the like. With well over 2.6 million people on the road of unemployment, none of that scares me.

What scares me, is people that are unemployed (or in serious financial jepordy) are failing to realize that the only sure road out, is a little practiced human trait -- self-reliance. Don’t assume someone or some governmental agency will rescue you. You are the only one who can save you.

As we sat in the audience, mostly made up of Cosmos Club members, the lecturer began his discussion about well known recent disasters, and the reasons why some people survive and some people don’t.

Usually, these discussions were scientifically way beyond the confines of my formal education. My son and I were there by default, as the members of the Cosmos Club have to be a person of distinction, character and sociability, who has:

• Done meritorious original work in science, literature, or the arts;
• Well known in science, literature, or the arts;
• Distinguished themselves as a learned professional, or as has notable in public service.

As he talked about the intricate details of stress fractures in metal during extreme coldness and weather conditions, from a physicist’s point of view, all contributing factors leading to the deaths -- my mind wandered back to the day of the airplane crash he was commenting on. I didn’t need a technically complicated scientific explanation to understand something very basic that many people forget.

Looking back on that conference of technical minds, it occurs to me that much of what was being taught that night, applies to the current state of financial affairs we all are experiencing today -- especially for those who are newly unemployed.

Previously to that evening, I'd attended many similar lectures on a variety of subjects, as the wife of a physicist and the guests of a prominent rocket scientist.

I wasn't as bad as some of the other wives, who had taken up knitting in an effort to keep from falling asleep. Some of these talks went on for hours, and there were times when it seemed they all spoke a language only understood by them.

Our host, Werner, had positioned himself strategically in the back of the room, where the cheese, crackers, and wine awaited everyone (minus what he would secretly and copiously consume).

It was my assessment that night, that apparently, standing up and eating was his method of staying awake. I say that only because he lived with us, and had actually fallen asleep on numerous occasions in mid-conversation at the dinner table.

As one of his examples, the lecturer had chosen Air Florida Flight 90, that crashed into the 14th Street Bridge on January 13, 1982. With that element entering into his talk -- I became more interested and tried to follow the discussion.

At the time of that tragic event, I had more than a bird's eye seat to the events of that horrible day, as I was working in Hospital Administration at a nearby medical center. The weather was so bad that I had volunteered to stay overnight at work, rather than risk a several hour commute outside of DC in such weather. Like everyone else, I was glued to the news, as we prepared for expected mass injuries and casualties. Anyone who remembers that crash, knows that only a handful of people survived.

As the ghastly realization played out, it was soon apparent that most of the passengers were not going to survive. This was especially poignant to me, as just a couple of weeks earlier -- I had cancelled reservations for that very flight, when I switched vacation slots with another hospital employee. It could have been my family on that plane.

Even today it is troubling for me to know that more lives could have been saved, if only the lost seventy-four passengers and crew knew six basic things about survival.

What isn't generally discussed, but didn't escape the lecturer's attention was a simple reality -- there could have been a much larger number of survivors on that day.

It simply boils down to the fact, that most of the passengers, sat in their seats, relatively uninjured, but not aware or too stunned, to know that they needed to take action immediately, and brave the icy waters before it consumed them.

The majority of the passengers drowned because they sat in their seats once the plane came to a stop.

Part of the reason that plane crashed was due to human error, primarily in underestimating the severity of the weather problem they were dealing with.  Human error also played it's role, when they forgot to activate the anti-ice systems, used thrust reverse on the ground to de-ice.  This was compounded further when the pilot over-rode his co-pilots observation, that "something wasn't right" -- and opted to not abort the take-off.

The few who survived the crash and all of those who survived impact, had one extra thing in common -- they stuck together. Those who dared not brave the icy waters stayed for whatever reason (be it confusion, injury, or uncertainty)within their comfort zone, to die together.

Those who left their comfort zone of momentary warmth, knew that the icy water and weather outside would be terrible -- but not as awful as losing their lives.

The survivors, once outside, stuck together. Passenger Joe Stiley, at one time could have saved himself early, but chose to stick together, knowing that Prscilla and Nicky could be lost without his help.

That day eye, witness, Lenny Skutnick, understood from the safety of the shore -- that now was not the time to stop running, if the helpless woman struggling in ice, blinded by jet fuel, didn't get help immediately. Not mindful of his own safety and comfort, he ran as fast as he could, dove in, and brought her out of the frigid water.

The so-called black boxes that we always hear discussed after airline disasters, is in reality an orange box. Orange being a color that is easier to find in disaster conditions.

Black or orange, it is designed to help prevent future accidents, and make things safer for future passengers

Thanks to the black orange box on that fateful disasterous flight of 1982, we know the pilot and co-pilot's last words were:

"Stalling, we're falling."

"Larry, we're going down Larry."

"I know it."

As history unfolded on this disaster, we watched an unidentified man pass off his life line to others in the icy waters.  In the end, Arlin Williams did not survive, but his actions made him a hero in his own life.

Six Simple Rules to Survive By

Taking the lessons of a horrible disaster that happened twenty-seven years ago to heart, here are my thoughts as to why these rules apply to surviving any disaster, including financial disasters, unemployment, and loss of income.

When disaster strikes you need to:

1. Brave the icy waters of uncertainty quickly and calmly. Be proactive about your situation, don't wait or rely on someone else to rescue you.
2. Never underestimate the severity of your problem. Don't assume that you'll find a new job immediately, that a new President and new direction for our country -- will translate into quick solutions. Understand what you, personally, need to do to reverse this setback.
3. Stick together -- This is the time, more than ever before, to draw close and stick together with your primary support system of friends and family. Build a new future -- together.
4. Now is not the time to stop running -- Don't let a situation stop you in your tracks. This is time to push yourself to find new directions, not rest on your laurels, hide under the covers, or wait to see what happens next.
5. Black boxes are really orange -- In troubling times, reality can and will be distorted by those who are in trouble, those who are in charge (or want to be), and those who report scewed facts. Listen to your own heart and mind, protect yourself -- so that you never find yourself in this situation again. Don't let your last words be, "I know it" when you could have prevented the whole event in the first place.
6. Be a hero in your own life -- You don't have to die to be a hero or heroine in your own life -- you just have to do your personal best, believe in yourself, and those you trust. Just remember though, it never hurts to pass off a life line to those around us, since it is and always will be the "right thing to do."