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

[Dr Moore]

Even in the 1970s, commercial aircraft would have been designed to be flown and safely landed with just 1 working engine.

So "miraculous" is probably not the right word, since the most likely outcome of a single engine failure as he described would have been precisely what happened.

Rough numbers, using 2019 as a benchmark. Even with today's more advanced turbine engines, engine failure rates are 1 per 375,000 flight hours (Wikipedia). Assuming an average of 4 hours per flight, that's just over one engine failure per 100,000 flights. In 2019, 40 million flights took off globally (Statista). These data imply about 400 engine failures on commercial jet aircraft in the year 2019. And yet, accident data for 2019 indicates 15 commercial accidents for the year, of which 1 was due to engine failure. In other words, 99.75% of the time, an engine failure did not result in a plane crash.

The same Wikipedia link lists commercial plane accidents in the 1970s as well. By year, the number of accidents caused by engine failure was:

1970: 2
1971: 1
1972: 0
1973: 2
1974: 2
1975: 0
1976: 1
1977: 2
1978: 2
1979: 2

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

I signed up for a free trial at newspapers.com and have been searching the millard county chronicle archives, and any news from millard county, for the last hour. There's no mention of Nelson's Big Adventure.

- Doc

[Moksha]

I signed up for a free trial at newspapers.com and have been searching the Millard county chronicle archives, and any news from Millard county, for the last hour. There's no mention of Nelson's Big Adventure.

- Doc

Maybe Doc Cam can solve this mystery and report his findings on Radio Free Mormon.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Well. I think the mystery has been solved. We're just trying up the loose ends, I think.

Remember brethren and sistrens:

Definition of Lying, Gospel Principles Manual, Chapter 31 “Honesty”

To Lie Is Dishonest

Lying is intentionally deceiving others. Bearing false witness is one form of lying…. There are many other forms of lying. When we speak untruths, we are guilty of lying. We can also intentionally deceive others by a gesture or a look, by silence, or by telling only part of the truth. Whenever we lead people in any way to believe something that is not true, we are not being honest. The Lord is not pleased with such dishonesty, and we will have to account for our lies. Satan would have us believe it is all right to lie. He says, “Yea, lie a little; . . . there is no harm in this” (2 Nephi 28:8). Satan encourages us to justify our lies to ourselves. Honest people will recognize Satan’s temptations and will speak the whole truth, even if it seems to be to their disadvantage.

It's ironic Russell M. Nelson is going to lose his nuts over some faith promoting fibs <- It's a TK smoothie for thee, Rusty.

- Doc

[Gabriel]

Looking at the PDF files of Delta's newspaper, Millard County Chronicle Progress, for November 18, 1976, there is no mention of any incidents relating to an emergency landing on anyone's field the previous Friday (the Delta paper comes out each Thursday). However, on page 1 we learn that a couple was nervous about taking their dog 'Gypsy' to the new veterinarian to get spayed (It turns out that Gypsy can be quite the 'bleeder', and the veterinarian informed them that, for a second, he thought that Gypsy might soon be chasing cats in heaven! But fortunately, Gypsy made it through. Whew!). There was an article listing the babies born the previous week, a farm bureau meeting; also, the school teachers have finished grading their students but are keeping mum about the number of F's that will be showing up on the report cards; there was also a brief rundown of the minutes of a farm bureau meeting, a lot of advertisements, announcements, classifieds, etc.

I can see how, in such a happening place, a dramatic aircraft landing on anyone's field would hardly be worth mentioning.

I waded through the following week's paper, published on the 25th, but there is nothing there regarding the topic at hand.

[Dr Exiled]

Rusty, Rusty oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to .... make s%$@ up about emergency landings

[Gadianton]

I know nothing about airplanes and I'm enjoying Tapir's, Dr. W, Cam, Res etc. comments.

I was in an airplane going from Salt Lake City to St. George to participate in a function at Dixie College. We were in one of those small commuter airplanes. There were about six passengers in it. The pilot had just announced that we were over the halfway point between Salt Lake City and St. George—we were past the point of no return. I thought, 'Well, that's a weird announcement to make

I'll have to ask the pros, was that weird announcement to make?

References to "the point of no return" I've found in present day, refer to how far down the runway a plane can get before it is forced to take off.

Consider these sentiments from a movie buff:

https://anotheroldmovieblog.blogspot.co ... -1957.html

Peel back the years to the 1950s and you have plane disaster movies that focused on another aspect, one that the 1970s movies did not have to worry about: the point of no return.

This aspect, and used as a line in “Zero Hour!”, “The High and the Mighty” (1954), and “No Highway in the Sky” (1951) - see previous post, was a factor in aviation at the time when propeller planes like DC4s and DC6s had a limited flying range, and once past the reckoned “point of no return” a plane in trouble could not turn around and return to its original taking off point without running out of fuel. It had to keep going no matter what the problem. This was most seriously creepy in “The High and the Mighty” in which the plane crossed the Pacific Ocean, and also happened in “No Highway in the Sky” in which the plane crossed the Atlantic.

So way back, this point was a scary prospect. Perhaps the terminology exists as an artifact in pilot talk? That wouldn't surprise me. However, it's really interesting that such an artifact of speaking manifest itself suddenly on the trip that had a problem -- Nelson who presumably travelled a lot found the sentiment "weird".

Indeed, the "weird" sentiment foreshadowed the trouble ahead, just like in the movies. And note:

There is another meaning to “the point of no return” of course that is allegorical, in that the characters must face not only the challenge of survival before them, but must face their own fears, shortcomings, sins, or a combination of all three, to earn new lives for themselves.

Just like in the movies, this was a defining life moment for Nelson.

https://anotheroldmovieblog.blogspot.co ... -1951.html

A reminder of the previously mentioned film “The High and the Mighty” is the importance stressed on the plane’s having reached THE POINT OF NO RETURN over the Atlantic.

Again, a crucial plot device for these 1950s movies is establishing the "point of no return" has been crossed, and the phrase as spoken as a line. And as a plot device, it carries its maximum force in Nelson's story, as he said:

The pilot had just announced

In other words, not only was the emergency foreshadowed just as in the older movies, but the emergency happened "just after" crossing the point, which would put it at the point where such an emergency would be most dangerous!

And there's one more oddity. Nelson is responding to what the pilot had said. And in this case, the "halfway" point just also happened to be "the point of no return".

Let's say you have enough gas for 1000 miles. The trip is 700 miles. Mile 500 would be the point of no return. Well, what if your plane only had a 700 mile range? Then at the half-way point, 350 m, you still have your option of going back, or forging ahead. So the halfway point can never be the point of no return. So if the pilot is using an artifact of pilot talk, it's a double artifact, if it's being used to refer to the "halfway point", and if it was spoken literally, then the pilot was terribly incompetent.

[tapirrider]

Some music to listen to while recounting Nelson's miraculous experience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U8t2iQ5Mvo




On November 12, 1976, Russell Nelson had boarded a commuter plane in Salt Lake City to fly the quick route to St. George, Utah, where he was to give the invocation at the inauguration of W. Rolfe Kerr as the president of Dixie College.

It was a short hop of less than an hour in a small, two-engine propeller plane. Only four passengers were on board. The pilot had just announced that they were halfway to St. George when the engine on the right wing exploded, spewing oil all over the right side of the aircraft and then bursting into flames. In an attempt to douse the flames, the pilot turned the fuel off, causing the small plane to go suddenly into a free fall death spiral.


The woman across the aisle from Russell began to scream hysterically. But Russell felt calm. “It was the most amazing thing,” he said. “I thought, ‘My wife and I are sealed. Our children are sealed to us. I’ve honored my covenants. I’ll meet my ancestors and go on to a glorious resurrection..'”

He was, however, impressed with how quickly and comprehensively the mind can work. “It’s true, your life does flash before you. I had a bright recollection and perfect remembrance of my whole life. One major thought was that all of the framed awards and honors on my wall, the various clothes I’d worn — tuxedos and uniforms and doctoral robes — didn’t mean anything. What mattered was that I had my garments on and had been faithful to the covenants I’d made in the temple. I knew I was going to die, but I knew I would be fine.”

Miraculously, the free fall extinguished the fire, and, in the nick of time, the pilot was able to start the left engine, regain control of the plane, and guide it to an emergency landing in a farmer’s field not far from Delta, Utah. Everyone walked away from the incident unharmed. Another plane was dispatched, and Russell made it to St. George in time to give the invocation.

[IHAQ]

It was November 12, 1976. He was traveling from Salt Lake City to St. George to give the invocation at Rolfe Kerr's inauguration as president of Dixie College.

One version:


Spencer J. Condie, Russell M. Nelson: Father, Surgeon, Apostle, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2003.

The cited source here: Russell M. Nelson, "A Call to Serve," address at the University of Utah Salt Lake Institute of Religion, 1 March 1985. Note that Condie prefaced the above account as follows: "The imminent prospect of death places in bold relief the things that matter most in life. Elder Nelson related just such an experience he had November 12, 1976."

The Church History Catalog has record of an address by that title delivered by Nelson at the Salt Lake Institute of Religion on March 31, 1985 (here).

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?

I think this is important in relation to fact checking this story. The book is held in a number of libraries which someone may be able to visit if they can spare the time.
https://www.worldcat.org/title/from-hea ... lc/6144971

[IHAQ]

Transcript of the video Nelson put out referencing the incident.

I was in a small airplane and all of the sudden the engine on the wing caught fire. It exploded and burning oil was poured all over the right side of the airplane and we started to dive toward the earth. We were spinning down our death.

Oh, this woman across the aisle, I just was so sorry for her. She was just absolutely uncontrollably hysterical. And I was calm. I was totally calm, even though I knew I was going down to my death. I was ready to meet my Maker.

We didn't crash. We didn't die. The spiral dive extinguished the flame. The pilot got control and started the other engine up. We made an emergency landing out in a field. But I thought, through that experience, if you've got faith, you can handle difficulties knowing that with any true perspective that all will be well.

In Luke 21, "The Earth shall be in distress, nations with perplexity, the seas and the waves roaring. Men's hearts failing them for fear." What we're seeing is a prediction that in these latter days people will be afraid. Men's hearts are failing, and that includes women, because they forget their identity and their purpose.

The heartaches will come. I've lived through the death of a wife in the death of a daughter. I've seen the troubles that divorce brings. Children or grandchildren go astray, disability, illness, injuries.

For the individual who is weak in the heart, fearful in the heart, be patient with yourself. Perfection comes not in this life, but in the next life. Don't demand things that are unreasonable, but demand of yourself improvement. As you let the Lord help you through that, He will make the difference.

I'm so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ that allows me that kind of strength in these tumultuous times.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/ins ... 1?lang=eng

Note Nelson's use of "the woman" as the counter example to promote his own righteousness. The point being made that she was hysterical because she didn't have faith, she didn't have a true perspective, she was weak in the heart, and fearful in the heart. Once again he sat there and, apparently did nothing to help the woman even though he was calm. I don't think the woman is a real person, because why would he torment a real person and her family by the retelling over and over the story of her supposed faithlessness?