I shivered as I walked down the concourse, lunch just starting to settle in my stomach. It was a cold snowy January day and my flight had been delayed due to weather. I had already called my wife to let her know. I was on my way to Florida home from a business trip. I had just gotten a big promotion and was ecstatic; my wife didn’t know I wanted it to be a surprise. About an hour later the pilot’s voice crackled over the intercom. “We have been cleared to resume flights and we will be taxiing for takeoff shortly.” This didn’t come as a surprise to me because the snow had let up dramatically.
The plane taxied on to the runway along with all the other flights. All the flights had been delayed so it was a mad dash to depart. Our plane had been sitting on the runway for over an hour. I thought nothing of the snow and ice building up on the wings I should of feared it. As our plane finally lined up for takeoff the pilots spooled up the engines. They sounded rough like a lawn mower hitting twigs. The plane nosed up and started to climb but something was wrong, it started to slowdown and fall again. A wave of panic rushed over the plane, that feeling of helplessness thick in the air. A river came into view closer, closer, and then the plane rumbled and tore apart as it hit the bridge. It careened off and crashed into the river. Black, nothing, darkness. As I came too I realized that I was pinned in my seat. Oxygen masks wrapped around me metal pinching my legs. Then the icy water started to rising. I struggled to get free to no avail. Higher, higher the water came. Cold lifeless water slightly tinted red by blood. My life flashed before my eyes, my wife, kids, job, and friends. Then I realized the water was at my neck. Higher, higher, till it covered my face. The pain of not breathing unbearable until, darkness……