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Written by Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo
When the river was thirsty
I asked why my night was long and dogged with unending insomnia.
Why the nightmarish cycle of an endless night?
Why are their footsteps echoing through the night?
Why are the first responders howling through the night? Why?
But they will never pass this way again!
Do your children still grieve for their sins and the footsteps echo in the nighttime? God of mercy, deliver us!
The horse is prepared for the day of battle but victory belongs to God! The last time America mourned a fatal air disaster of this magnitude was 16 years ago – enough to continue to believe that air travel is the safest. But when it fails, it pours! The DMV is still wrecking from the gory event in its first 24 hours!
I have been demoralized and engulfed in grief for the poor souls whose lives have been cut short in their prime. Think of the poor first officer who had a wedding in view! He was only 28 years old but all that is now over with. I keep scrolling pages upon pages to see if the story would become another unfounded rumor but no, it is all hushed talks in downcast helpless faces.
The grim reality is painfully stuck with us! I grieve for the bereaved families. True I am unconnected with any of the victims ( at least until the manifest is released) but my heart is unsettled because of the avoidable loss and the manner of their painful exits. Only yesterday I took a walk to the nearby metro station and walked past a lake, it was all covered by a sheet of ice as temperatures have recently been double digits below freezing point! I was imagining the life of the turtles and other aquatic creatures in the lake.
What becomes of them in frigid climes as now? The sheer thought of their plights sent shivers down my spine yesterday. Unbeknown to me fellow earthlings would be plunged into the Potomac in a few hours! The CRJ (Canadian Regional Jet) was unaware she was prepping for the last flight from Wichita, KA! The passengers have all packed their bags envisaging the nightfall arrival at DCA (Reagan Airport).
Candidly, I have never felt uneasy in my many flights across the US – even when I see that the first officers are increasingly looking like high school graduates – but I am comforted by the fact that pilot training and certifications are not for the faint-hearted – fingers crossed, because victory is of the Lord, and I should never take it for granted that we will arrive alive. As they say, take off is optional but landing is mandatory, or better put, going to bed is my choice but waking up is the Lord’s prerogative!
I only woke up to the somber air and eerie feelings of a mishap – not a lone accident but a mid-air collision! Where did it happen, right in my backyard – on the Potomac! DCA is my airport of choice and I use it frequently every month. At 20 minutes by car, it is so convenient and makes my air travels a piece of cookie. But all my assumptions are now henceforth, under check. I have learned to question and critique my assumptions. As an aviation geek myself, I am to a good extent informed on aviation navigations and their registers and I have even tried my hands in the simulators of the 737 aircraft, but I only now know better that unless the Lord builds the house and until He watches over the city…..
Since this morning, I have seen a different side of the truth that vain is the help of man and it is true that the arm of flesh (white or black) will fail you. My confidence in avionics and modern navigation technologies has suddenly bottomed out. I cross the Potomac every week and I do Plane spotting as a hobby. Living between Andrews Air Force Base and DCA means that sighting the Black Hawks, Marine One, Air Force One, and countless commercial aircrafts are common place. Even helicopters coming to land on the hospital rooftop next to my house are all common sights.
But when the river is thirsty, it cries and calls for the saline tears of the bereaved. It is a sad oxymoron for a river to thirst. So I ask the Potomac, what aileth thee? Why call for blood yesterday? Why not let them die another day in peace? Even if they survive the crash as swimmers, the freezing cold waters will freeze all enzymatic processes, and death by hypothermia is imperative. The scene is set to help the sumptuous serving of the cold hands of death, taking sweet innocent souls down with it! Boys and girls, skaters with a shining future before boarding the CRJ, are now a nightmare for their families, confronted with shattered dreams of a future without them!
I truly find this too close for comfort. Have I taken grace for granted? I even stopped praying on every flight much the same way as I do when I hop into a car and sit behind the wheels crossing the Potomac every week. Many a time I remember the Baltimore bridge collapse as I cross the Potomac but my heart skips a bit in a ‘not-to-day’ attitude. It was the ‘to-day’ yesterday for these innocent 64 souls plus the three men in the Black Hawk. What happened to the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), Or is this an ATC malfunction? Why the collision? What happened to the separation of aircrafts? I thought they said the sky is broad enough for all birds to fly without touching each other? Why was there no room to separate the raging elements and the instruments from the thirsty Potomac? Why kiss the Potomac by two and not one? Why death at dusk? I can understand the sometimes mindless collisions at intersections by cars but for a jetliner on approach just less than 2 minutes to touch down and a helicopter on routine training? Why must the flights end in a fatal gust of hellish screaming as the cold waters of the Potomac took their toll? It all ended abruptly in a callous bang. No time to say goodbye to anyone or think through the unfolding scenes that ended before they started. The descent was too rapid only into the wrong destination. DCA was thrown into a pandemonium. The tongue was bitten by the teeth. The cavity is sore and the teeth are on edge. Washington is again draped in dark habits.
In all of these, may God grant succor and mercy to the grieving hearts. The First Officer’s father just spoke through X, expressing ‘this day’ as the worst day of his life! Indeed I share in his agony and I invite you dear reader to join me to say a prayer for the bereaved.
May the souls of all the departed now find peace with their maker and may we all maintain our position in His abiding presence until He calls us home at His own time.
