Here's what the plane looked like:BOGOTA, Colombia – A Boeing 737 jetliner filled with vacationers crashed in a thunderstorm and broke apart as it slid onto the runway on a Caribbean island Monday. Only one of the 131 people on board died, and the island's governor called it a miracle.
The plane hit short of the runway on Colombia's San Andres Island and skidded on its belly as the fuselage fractured and bits of landing gear and at least one engine were ripped off. The jet wound up on one end of the runway, crumpled and in pieces, as passengers scrambled or were helped to safety.
Now think about this: The one person who was killed in the crash? She actually died of a heart attack after the plane stopped moving. It's possible the plane may have been hit by lightning as it prepared to land - in any case, the pilot did one masterful job of setting this very injured bird down.
It's tough to call this a "miracle" when you consider that the plane may have been struck by lightning, IMHO - if G-d saved the plane, then an equally possible claim is that G-d hit the plane to begin with. I don't want to think of Him as some Homer Simpson-esque deity, having to save planes He hits with lightning bolts and all (Hmmm. Thunder = Heavenly "D'oh!"?)...
In any case, it's pretty amazing that only one person perished in that crash...
That is all.
3 comments:
I think it is also pretty amazing that the fuel didn't explode from sparks as the plane skidded along . . . . while not as volatile as gasoline, jet fuel is none the less pretty flammable stuff. Or so I'm told.
I don’t think lightning will do much damage to a 737; they are built to take strikes.
IIRC, the vast majority of airline deaths for incidents that happen on the ground are due to smoke inhalation and trampling not due to the damage of the aircraft.
That it didn't burn is probably the reason that so many lived.
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