Remembering Ben

[SteveCostello]

Yep. Even when the waters are a little choppy, I make it a point to do the same thing. No one should have to live with the guilt of not saying a proper goodbye. It takes a few seconds longer, and it just feels good. Little moments are where it's at. Ginny's blog is chock full of those little moments that she documented. It's a sweet-bitter story.

 

[jynxyjoe]

God dammit I hate it I forget about Ben sometimes. Then you see something like this and it all comes flashing back in a wave. What a great man, great husband and dad, and a great member of JC.

 

[MikeD]

I know Ben did, because you can hear the excitment in his voice if you ever have listened to the tape of his last moments. He knew he was fine, and was excited to be in the scenario he was in.

I dont know if I necessarily detected excitement in a fun/positive sense, while dealing with an in-extremis situation going on, from what I can remember of the audio. But that was a while ago last I heard it.

He was a cocky ass, because he knew everything about everything, and he loved to prove it. The funny thing is, he always did. I never knew him to be wrong.

I would hope the above was truly not the case with his personality. Unfortunately in this business, if you're never wrong (or don't think you are), then you're already wrong.

A tragic accident indeed, but like all of them, one with some very good takeaways and learning points for all aviators. But again, like all of them, we're not finding new or previously unseen ways to crash planes. And therein lies the true tragedy.