This story is tragic, and if you’re a pilot, I am sure you have heard of it.
It’s about the tragic story of USAir Flight 427.
If you’re not familiar with the story, USAir flight 427 was a flight from Chicago (KORD) to West Palm Beach (KPBI) with a stopover in Pittsburg (KPIT).
Onboard the flight deck was Captain Peter Germano and First Officer Charles “Chuck” Emmett III.
As USAir flight 427 was preparing to land in Pittsburg, the unthinkable happened…
Suddenly the plane began to act erratically and then entered a dive to the left.
Captain Germano and First Officer Emmett did what they could in the short amount of time they had, but their efforts were futile…
The plane crashed into the ground in Beaver County, near Aliquippa, Pennsylvania.
All 132 souls on board perished.
It was determined some time later, that the cause of the crash was a design flaw in the airplane’s Rudder Power Control Unit (PCU).
Form what I understand, the PCU servo’s secondary slide would become jammed against it’s housing when hot hydraulic fluid entered a cold PCU, which would result in the airplane’s rudder movements opposing the pilot’s commands, and even uncommanded movements.
What makes this story so tragic is if you read the transcript of the cockpit voice recorder.
When you read the transcript you learn that just before the plane went into its fatal dive, a flight attendant had made First Officer Emmett III a soda drink.
He takes a sip of the drink and says “My wife would love that”.
He clearly loved and cared about his wife, and it is revealed in that last moment before his life ended.
Now why I am writing about this story?
I am writing about this because it made me think to myself a couple of questions.
Questions like…
“I hope this guy had life insurance.”
“I hope he had done some planning to protect his assets for his wife and his kids if he had any”.
Now, we will never know the answer to those questions, but it is a good example of why pilots, engineers, and everyone with loved ones should take the time to do some wealth management planning.
Take the time to determine if you need life insurance, and how much.
Take the time to protect your assets for your spouse and children.
Your life can change in an instant.
It did for these pilots, the flight crew and passengers.
And too many times I see pilots and engineers not planning for the future, the inevitable and unthinkable.
If you have loved ones…and the thought of not being here to take care of them if/when you pass away pierces your heart…
Then take action today to put a wealth management plan in place to take care of those loved ones if the unthinkable happens.
Because one minute you could be enjoying a soda drink…and the next you could be gone.