First man in
Jay Cadmus
Communications professional, least-selling author, U.S. Patent holder, world's okayest bass player, vegan free, non-NGO, carton neutral, pro transplant.
(Curating this post) People ask about the inspiration for my novel, “Ordinary Man” – a story of an everyman who becomes a hero. I tell them about Lenny Skutnik and Air Florida Flight 90.
Lenny was an average guy, a printing assistant in the Congressional Budget Office in Washington. One cold January evening about 35 years ago, Lenny was driving home from work when he witnessed a horrible event -- a jet full of passengers crashed into the Potomac River. Only five people got out alive.
Lenny pulled his car to the side of the road near the crash and got out. He quickly spotted a woman struggling in the frigid water, stripped off his jacket and boots, and plunged in to save her.
Later when asked by reporters why he did it, Lenny basically shrugged and said it just seemed like the right thing to do.
Hundreds of people stood in the gloaming on that roadside watching the terrible spectacle. But Lenny was one of the few to help, with total disregard for his own safety. He had no special training, no experience in emergency response or water rescue.
He just saw what needed to be done and did it.
That story rattled around in my head from the first time I heard it as a college student, eventually serving as the core idea for my book.
How, in a moment, one ordinary man can make a difference.
I remember this very well - my dad was on the next plane landing at DCA. They pulled up at the last minute and diverted to BWI, and it took him about 6 hours to get home because the snow was so bad. My other lasting memory of the day was that school started two hours late (pretty common for snow days) and as soon as we got there they closed school and sent all of us home.