I've been in three accidents (all prop planes, air-taxi types) that I walked away from, as did the all others on board. Well, "walked" may be something of an misnomer - let's say, "got" away from.

Each one could easily have had a less successful outcome. A game of inches, as they say.

Fate? Destiny? Nah - crappy winds; old landing gear struts, spit happens.

How many times have you been in a car accident, or witnessed one, or driven past one? Of course we all have and it's inevitably sobering and makes you think about what might have been or might yet still come to be. But do you swear off cars or certain roads?

Years ago my mom worked for the test pilots at Douglas Aircraft (dawn of the jet age) and was in the tower when 3 of her best friends (and family friends of ours) were involved in a midair collision with a weekend warrior in a T38 over greater LA. The guys in the DC-7 (tail sheared off) talked all the way down, talking about the airplane, the guages, their wives and kids, and at the last second managed to keep the plane from crashing into an elementary school playground.

It was not fate that spared those kids at recess. It was professionals doing their jobs right up to the last tenth of a second. I have never feared flying since then.