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Strollerderby
One Family, Two Planes, One Tragic Crash
When the Schnabl family planned a vacation to Sweden, rather than all fly together they split up: Christine Badre Schnabl and her 5-year-old son Philipe took one flight, her husband and other child took a separate flight. Christine and her husband traveled this way to ensure that some part of their family would survive should the unthinkable happen.
Unfortunately, the unthinkable happened to Christine and Philipe. The two are presumed dead after their plane, Air France Flight 447, disappeared while en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. Christine’s husband and other child are safe.
I’ve heard of families who do this, and I can’t say I’ve ever been tempted. Aside from the fact that the odds of dying in an airplane crash are so remote, I’m simply not concerned with our family legacy living on. I want my family to live on, of course, all five of us. But pit the hassle of traveling separately against the faintest chance that the worst can happen, and I’ll take my chances.
And then there’s the guilt. I simply cannot imagine what Mr. Schnabl is going through right now, knowing that it just as easily could have been him on that flight. I don’t think I could live with having to make that choice, deciding which of my kids and which adult would go on each flight.
You could argue that because they chose to fly separately, half of their family was saved. But you could also argue that if the entire family had chosen to fly together on the other flight, they’d all be saved.
Of course, hindsight is 20/20. This is a tragic story, no matter how you look at it, for everyone who lost their lives on that flight.
I do wonder, however, if families who make it a point not to fly together, also make it a point not to drive together. As those of us who hate to fly have heard countless times, the odds of dying in a car crash are far greater than dying in a plane crash.
What do you think about families flying separately? Do you do it?
Source: The Mommy Files
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7 Comments
[...] One Family, Two Planes, One Tragic Crash [...]
The Best Fast Food in the Country Is… | Strollerderby commented on Jun 10 09 at 5:30 pmEG commented on Jun 05 09 at 9:44 amI seem to recall a family on 9/11 where the parents split up on two different flights and they were two of the flights that went down.
ceecee commented on Jun 05 09 at 10:00 amMy ex-bf’s mom insisted that her three boys never fly on the same plane because she “couldn’t bear to lose all the kids.” They used to joke in a macabre fashion about which one of them would take one for the team. Their mom was a little prone to melodrama in general. My best friend flew very shortly after 9/11 on a Boston-LA trip with her husband and kids. She called me to say, “Just in case something happens again, I wanted you to know what a great friend you have been.” I asked if they thought about not going or only two of them going and she said, “I want us to live or die as a family unit.” I got shivers hearing her say that. Needless to say, everyone is still alive and well in her family.
Blondegrlz commented on Jun 05 09 at 11:06 amThere was an interview where Kate Winslet said she and her husband do this, but most of the time they’re traveling without any children. So her reasoning is at least one parent would survive to take care of the kids. I can understand that a little better, because if everyone was going I think I’d rather it was an all-or-nothing scenario. God that sounds morbid.
I doubt you could find any one anywhere who ALWAYS drives separately. Even though statistically cars are less safe, they don’t seem as…threatening? tragic? as an airplane. I don’t know what the right word is but I’m sure you know what I mean.
katia commented on Jun 06 09 at 6:38 pmfor our work, we do a lot of flying, and my husband and I hate NOT traveling on the same plane. Our pre-flight ritual involved a stiff drink and some morbid talk of not wanting to outlive the other. Now that we are expecting, I can understand the Kate Winslet approach. Still, it’s terrifying to think of how to weigh the pain of losing half of a family against the possibility of having the chance to hold someone you love even as you go…
MyPersonalOpinion commented on Jun 20 09 at 1:20 amI agree ceecee. If I was on one plane and my husband was on another and his crashed, I think I would have wanted to go with him.
Michael commented on Jun 28 09 at 4:09 pmI had heard that the Royal Family does this. The chances of something happening are so remote, that it would seem to be pointless. BUT, then if the unthinkable does happen, the guilt would be unbearable. My mother always said, “When it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go.”
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