Plane Crash Envy

In mid-January, a British Airlines jet crash-landed into Heathrow. It was a Boeing 777 flying in from China with 151 passengers and crew on board. There were a few minor injuries and no mortalities. I bring this up now, a month later, because I am still considering my reaction to the entire event. I was actually at the gym when I saw the news brief and I looked around at everyone else’s responses. A few other gym-goers had their hands covering their mouths in shock while most people were spurred into instant conversation regarding the safety of air travel, “oh! those poor passengers,” and their own mortality.

I, on the other hand, should probably go straight to the psych ward for my reaction:

I’m just going to say it...I was jealous.
I immediately wished that I had been on that plane. No, I do not have a death wish- not at all. Had anyone died, I would be glad that I wasn’t present. (Let me add that I am also glad that there were no mortalities whether I was involved or not.) However, the fact that each passenger is now a survivor of a plane crash agitated me to a point where I actually had a fit of envy. I wished that I had been one of the 151 people on that plane flying from China. I wonder if any of the “victims” have changed due to the experience- if they currently live fuller knowing how close they came to dying. Each individual involved can now say that they endured a plane crash- that they have stared death straight in the face and lived through it. You hear these stories all the time; about people who have near-death experiences and are henceforth enlightened. They change the way they live because they FINALLY, after all this time on earth, realize that they too will die one day. So then they indulge in all the pleasures of the flesh a little more and worry about the small stuff a little less. I want to be one of those people!
Granted, “survive a plane crash” isn’t on my list of things to do before I die BUT, I cannot say that I would have truly minded the incident. I would simply add that to all the things that I have gone through that make me who I am. Which, apparently, after reading through what I just wrote- is pretty messed up already. It’s also a decent conversation starter.

Here is a link to the full story, if interested; http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jan/17/world.theairlineindustry
Have a good day everyone and travel safe!
xx
m