The 149th Episode : Aircraft crash
[September, 1999 Lima, Peru]
It was around 0:00 midnight when I arrived, but Fernando, the president of our distributor, picked me up. He is one year younger than me but looks my father. He has large eyes, a beard and a well-proportioned physique. He may look tough, but he is a gentle man.
“Oh, you’re still alive!” These were the first words from his mouth as soon as he saw me after 16 months meeting. “What? What are you saying?” I asked. He said “ah, you don’t know that an aircraft crashed onto the expressway in Buenos Aires due to the failure of taking-off about 5-6 hours ago. The news on TV surprised me when I was having dinner before I came here to pick you up. The time was almost same as the departure of your flight. Many victims are reported. Anyway it’s good you’re alright.”
I didn’t know at all. I met him after a long time but as it was late night he took me straight to the hotel.
The article was on the top page of the next day’s newspaper in huge print with the photo of the wrecked aircraft. The text was in Spanish, that was beyond my understanding though. The accident happened at the local airport for exclusively domestic airways. I was in a meeting at a certain trading company near the airport some hours before the accident. If I had been there on the accident, I would’ve been sure to hear the sound. I might feel the ground/floor was shaken!?
At the time of the accident I was at Ezeiza International Airport, about 25 miles away, waiting for the flight for Lima, Peru. Once air accident happens airports and aircrafts block such news in/on them. No way at all for me to know that. 63 passengers and crew and 2 people on the ground were killed.
The person in charge of the trading company took a contact with the head office of my company in Japan, because it was a big accident and he thought it might be reported in Japan. The aircraft was for the exclusive domestic airways, so I was safe and sound. Highly appreciate his anxiety.
