My friend might not have been...

[Basil]

Pete, a good friend and co-worker, has an erie connection to a famous mid-air plane crash that occurred over the Grand Canyon in 1956:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/1956-grand-canyon-airplane-crash-a-game-changer/

See, Pete's Father was scheduled to be on one of those planes, but missed the flight by minutes. This was before Pete or any of his brothers were born. His Dad drove like crazy to make the plane, but luck was on his side that day and he missed the flight.

 

[NutmegCT]

That was a horrible tragedy, which brought about major changes in USA commercial aviation.

A friend of mine was an American Airlines pilot back in 1956. He said that once you took off flying southwest from Chicago, you often lost radio and radar contact with *anyone*. You just held the compass heading for the next airport - and kept your fingers crossed.

 

[Gliderman8]

See, Pete's Father was scheduled to be on one of those planes, but missed the flight by minutes. This was before Pete or any of his brothers were born. His Dad drove like crazy to make the plane, but luck was on his side that day and he missed the flight.

The old adage "Better late than never" is appropriate here.