Fact Checking Nelson's "Doors Of Death" light aircraft near death experience

[Physics Guy]

It was Data’s doppleganger screaming “we’re dying!” He was using contractions, that’s how they knew the real Data was with Picard. Q plucked the doppelgänger off the craft just before Data’s roadrunner-coyote thrust move slingshotted them around the moon leaving them in 1969, where they found invisible aluminum but no whale songs because Kirk and Spock had just left with the last two big Blues.

I might be misremembering, though.

A lot of Star Trek plots sound like garbled memories even when they're not.

[Philo Sofee]

It was Data’s doppleganger screaming “we’re dying!” He was using contractions, that’s how they knew the real Data was with Picard. Q plucked the doppelgänger off the craft just before Data’s roadrunner-coyote thrust move slingshotted them around the moon leaving them in 1969, where they found invisible aluminum but no whale songs because Kirk and Spock had just left with the last two big Blues.

I might be misremembering, though.

Too much LDS.

I saw what you did there...

[Rivendale]

Too much LDS.

I saw what you did there...

Believers try to grapple with the death spiral. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlUOJy9PFiw

[Gabriel]

Here is a color photo taken July 17, 1976 by I. E. Quastler, a "historical transportation geographer" (who knew such a role exists?) and emeritus professor of geography at San Diego State. This photo, taken at Skywest's St. George HQ, is the very plane that flew on Nov. 11, 1976, tail number N74985, according to the C.A.B. report.

The engine you see, the right engine, is the very engine that would fail months later, on Nov. 11, 1976. Nelson was on the opposite, or left hand side of the plane, and the "hysterical" woman Nelson describes ("The poor lady across the aisle from me was in absolute hysterics. She was right there where the flames were the brightest.") would have been sitting in one of the right-side window seats visible in the photo.
...
And let's be real here, Nelson didn't get a good look at the action. He'd have had to lean over the aisle for a better look, right? First, okay, how very rude to pull such a move with that hysterical woman he felt so sorry for. Can you picture that? "Excuse me ma'am, I know you're freaking out a little, but I need a better look." Uh, no. Second, he was totally calm, remember? Calm people don't go bobbing all over the cabin for a better look. Third, he already knew he was going to die, remember? He was busy seeing his life flash before his eyes while reflecting on the afterlife.

I don't believe that there was an hysterical woman on Russell's flight. It's a movie trope - just like the pilot announcing "the point of no return".

Watch "Side-by-side comparison: Zero Hour! (1957) Vs Airplane! (1980)" on YouTube.
https://youtu.be/8-v2BHNBVCs

At the 9:50 mark you'll find Russell's hysterical woman conveniently located on the right side of the aisle.

[Rad]

A Frank Costanza move? I think our crack investigators need to explore this angle

He stopped short!

[Moksha]

Believers try to grapple with the death spiral. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlUOJy9PFiw

TBMS are not only able to embrace Tales Tales as a gift from the prophet but argue that embellishment is a necessary component to faith promotion.

This is why the works of J.R.R. Tolkien should be added to the LDS Canon. Imagine if Dr. John Gee were to shift his focus to Farmer Giles of Ham.

[DrW]

Believers try to grapple with the death spiral. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlUOJy9PFiw

Thank you Riverdale. This was an illustrative glimpse into the Mormon minion mindset.

A central question seemed to be whether or not it was okay for Mormon prophets to exaggerate, embellish, and lie from the pulpit in order to illustrate a gospel principle or engender faith in the congregation.

In reality, if that question really needs to be discussed, then senior church leadership has already failed - miserably.

[Rivendale]

Believers try to grapple with the death spiral. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlUOJy9PFiw

Thank you Riverdale. This was an illustrative glimpse into the Mormon minion mindset.

A central question seemed to be whether or not it was okay for Mormon prophets to exaggerate, embellish, and lie from the pulpit in order to illustrate a gospel principle or engender faith in the congregation.

In reality, if that question really needs to be discussed, then senior church leadership has already failed - miserably.

When discussing the Paul H Dunn and others that have "embellished" the golden comment...paraphrasing. " You have to generate interest, so when do you draw the line on embellishment?" Really from an organization that is preaching the one true message?

[Gabriel]

I don't know whether he publicly mentioned the incident prior to March 31, 1985. Would someone check his 1979 book, From Heart to Heart, for mention of it?

Thanks for your patience, Tom!

I knew I forgot something. Oh yeah, this morning I looked out the window and what did I see? Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!

No. That wasn't it. What was it? Oh yeah! It was this thing that came in the mail.

79f3e5c34e1faea9488dc3aea6e99463.jpg

Whoops! My bad. That's our doormat.

Rather, it was this:

allien.jpg

Let's see what Young Russell has to say in his autobiography, From Heart to Heart
From the Preface on page ix:

The original motivation to write this review seemed to spring simultaneously from my dear wife, Dantzel, and from President Spencer W. Kimball. Then a plea from President B. Lloyd Poelman provided additional prompting. Unifocal direction from three I loved so much could not be ignored. The final nudge came as I was a passenger in a small airplane plummeting earthward with one of its two engines exploded. I realized then that although both the spiritual and material needs for my family had been provided, I had not left for them a reasonable recapitulation of my life that they could review. The safe emergency landing of that disabled aircraft provided me with the chance I needed.

From "Annual Highlights (1960 - 1978)" on page 305:

To assist in documenting events of significance that have happened to me, to Dantzel, and to the children, annual highlights will be listed in this section. Of course, many important events occurred that won't be summarized here. For example, little will be mentioned about the major and minor operative procedures I have performed from 1955 to 1978, which now total more than six thousand.

Not included are a number of speeches at wards, at firesides, and at funerals, which became almost a matter of routine each week of the year. If there was any value in the comments I made, I am grateful, but I realize that the privilege of this kind of service is in the preparation and presentation of those remarks.

The daily work and the attendance at routine scientific meetings won't be recapitulated here either, but they are all recorded in my daily journals. I have attempted to summarize here only those things that are of significance in our lives as members of the family, plus a number of world events and Church-related incidents that have shaped the destiny of mankind. This section includes the years from 1960 to 1978; the highlights of the preceding years are all interwoven in the fabric of the preceding narrative.

In the world of medical science, it is expedient to summarize one's background in the form of "curriculum vitae" and a list of publications. Such data are also added to this record.

With deepest gratitude, I note that ever since I began to record in my journals, I have never missed a day of work because of illness. In addition, I remember never having missed a day of school except for a couple of days in grade school when I had chicken pos. I know I had perfect attendance in junior high and high school, at the university, and all through medical school. I can only be extremely thankful to my Father in heaven for giving me such a great blessing, for I have been in the midst of illness almost all that time. Moreover, my experiences on the front line of artillery action and under sniper fire by guerillas in Korea, in a crippled airplane with an exploded engine as it plummeted earthward, in the grip of thundering rapids on the relentless Colorado River, submerged while wearing high waders in the Snake River - all these episodes, any one of which could have ended fatally, combine to make my statement of gratitude to God for life, health, and strength a most sincere one.

From the bottom of page 376 to the top of 377, we get the money quote:

November 12 - Flew to St. George. When one of the small airplane's engines exploded, I expected to be killed. But after a precipitous dive in the disabled plane, the pilot made a safe emergency landing in Delta. I was going to St. George to give the opening prayer at the inaugural services at which Rolfe Kerr became president of Dixie College.

[Tom]

I don't know whether he publicly mentioned the incident prior to March 31, 1985. Would someone check his 1979 book, From Heart to Heart, for mention of it?

Thanks for your patience, Tom!

I knew I forgot something. Oh yeah, this morning I looked out the window and what did I see? Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!

No. That wasn't it. What was it? Oh yeah! It was this thing that came in the mail.79f3e5c34e1faea9488dc3aea6e99463.jpg

Whoops! My bad. That's our doormat.

Rather, it was this:allien.jpg

Let's see what Young Russell has to say in his autobiography, From Heart to Heart
From the Preface on page ix:

The original motivation to write this review seemed to spring simultaneously from my dear wife, Dantzel, and from President Spencer W. Kimball. Then a plea from President B. Lloyd Poelman provided additional prompting. Unifocal direction from three I loved so much could not be ignored. The final nudge came as I was a passenger in a small airplane plummeting earthward with one of its two engines exploded. I realized then that although both the spiritual and material needs for my family had been provided, I had not left for them a reasonable recapitulation of my life that they could review. The safe emergency landing of that disabled aircraft provided me with the chance I needed.

From "Annual Highlights (1960 - 1978)" on page 305:

To assist in documenting events of significance that have happened to me, to Dantzel, and to the children, annual highlights will be listed in this section. Of course, many important events occurred that won't be summarized here. For example, little will be mentioned about the major and minor operative procedures I have performed from 1955 to 1978, which now total more than six thousand.

Not included are a number of speeches at wards, at firesides, and at funerals, which became almost a matter of routine each week of the year. If there was any value in the comments I made, I am grateful, but I realize that the privilege of this kind of service is in the preparation and presentation of those remarks.

The daily work and the attendance at routine scientific meetings won't be recapitulated here either, but they are all recorded in my daily journals. I have attempted to summarize here only those things that are of significance in our lives as members of the family, plus a number of world events and Church-related incidents that have shaped the destiny of mankind. This section includes the years from 1960 to 1978; the highlights of the preceding years are all interwoven in the fabric of the preceding narrative.

In the world of medical science, it is expedient to summarize one's background in the form of "curriculum vitae" and a list of publications. Such data are also added to this record.

With deepest gratitude, I note that ever since I began to record in my journals, I have never missed a day of work because of illness. In addition, I remember never having missed a day of school except for a couple of days in grade school when I had chicken pos. I know I had perfect attendance in junior high and high school, at the university, and all through medical school. I can only be extremely thankful to my Father in heaven for giving me such a great blessing, for I have been in the midst of illness almost all that time. Moreover, my experiences on the front line of artillery action and under sniper fire by guerillas in Korea, in a crippled airplane with an exploded engine as it plummeted earthward, in the grip of thundering rapids on the relentless Colorado River, submerged while wearing high waders in the Snake River - all these episodes, any one of which could have ended fatally, combine to make my statement of gratitude to God for life, health, and strength a most sincere one.

From the bottom of page 376 to the top of 377, we get the money quote:

November 12 - Flew to St. George. When one of the small airplane's engines exploded, I expected to be killed. But after a precipitous dive in the disabled plane, the pilot made a safe emergency landing in Delta. I was going to St. George to give the opening prayer at the inaugural services at which Rolfe Kerr became president of Dixie College.

Wow, thank you! (I hope you didn't have to mortgage your house to buy the book.) That's much more than I expected in the book.

Moreover, my experiences on the front line of artillery action and under sniper fire by guerillas in Korea, in a crippled airplane with an exploded engine as it plummeted earthward, in the grip of thundering rapids on the relentless Colorado River, submerged while wearing high waders in the Snake River

I'm not familiar with the Snake River incident.