Jim's Survival Story: Piecing Together a Plane Crash

Jim and his squadron mate left work one humid July evening and headed to the airport to complete a flight review and aircraft checkout in a Piper Cherokee single-engine plane in Pensacola, Fla. When they took off, the sun was still shining over the world-renowned beaches and - the coast was clear - literally. He never imagined it could be the day he died. Actually, a plane crash was the last thing on his mind.

Holding a private pilot’s license since he was 17, and being a retired navigator for the U.S. Air Force with multiple flights under his belt, it was a no-brainer that he would go home that night. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened. At least that’s what he was told because he doesn’t remember a thing.

“You do the normal pre-flight obviously because that’s where people make mistakes, they don’t check that they have enough gas and everything. You talk about what you’re gonna do then you hop in the plane and you go,” Jim explains. According to his squadron mate, that’s exactly how they started out. 

The altitude was low, “We were up maybe 200 feet. When we took off we lost the engine, that’s what the pilot told me.” Jim’s retelling is without emotion because of his memory loss. “We lost the engine and couldn’t get it started back up and couldn’t get back to the airport.” Jim relies on authorities and friends to piece the event together.

“I’m told we ended up ditching it [the engine] in a pine tree, swampy area just south of the airport. I don’t remember how we crashed. My side hit harder.” 

The plane only had one door and it was on Jim’s side. “I was pretty much knocked out. Because I was blocking the door and slumped over the controls, my buddy had to kick out the windshield.”

His squadron mate was taken to the hospital by ambulance, held overnight for observation, and released the next day. However, Jim was not so lucky. He was transported by a medevac helicopter. “I was flown to the hospital and put in the critical ward.” He suffered a broken back, broken hand, broken nose, broken ankle, multiple cuts and bruises on his face, blood on the brain, and other brain injuries.

After a flurry of treatments, surgeries, and rehabs Jim began to heal. “I had about seven months of therapy in Pensacola to get all my body parts working close to normal again.” While receiving shots in his back for pain, a staph infection followed. Another surgery was required and a 3-month recovery process in the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa.

After a long road of trauma and recovery, Jim still flies. “Because of my brain injury I don’t remember a thing which, it turns out, is a blessing in disguise. Because I don’t remember anything, I’m not afraid to fly. I was finally able to get my medical certification from the FAA and get back into flying.” 

Not only did he get back in, he helped his former squadron mate as well. “The guy I was flying with remembers everything and didn’t want to get back into flying. We went up in a Cessna 172 and got him his flight review.”

Since he doesn’t remember the crash, it’s hard for him to imagine the last thoughts of the recent victims of the Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and Alaska plane crashes. However, if he can offer any hope to those left behind it is this. “It’s very sad for the families but they should know there was probably no suffering and it was over in the blink of an eye.”

That's why he is sharing his story for the first time. His goal is to bring comfort to the hurting families. And to remind the living to be ready spiritually, tell your family you love them, thank people for being in your life, and use your breath wisely. Every. Day. Matters.