As luck would have it...
We all have an idea about luck, and how it affects us.
Looking back I feel lucky that I failed the eleven-plus, went to a good secondary modern school, got plenty of O- and A-levels, got a good degree in Applied Physics, received a PhD grant from the European Commission, went to Italy, and met my fantastic French wife-to-be on my first day in my new lab.
But luck can also have a very tangible feeling associated with an exact moment in time. A feeling I have experienced twice.
The first time was one late evening when it was snowing. Visibility was poor, and I just clipped the tip of a barrier when entering the A31 from the A4 at Metz. As I span and slowly slid across the motorway pointing in the wrong direction, I was lucky to find two French policemen coming at me in the fast lane. I can still vividly remember the shock on their faces.
Plane crash 10 April 1989
Shortly after 21:10 on Monday 10 April 1989 a passenger plane (flight 602) lost control and crashed into the northern face of the Vercors Massif, at an altitude of 1,200 meters (see accident report).
Everyone was killed, 19 passengers and three crew. The aircraft was a Fokker 27 (F-GGDM), a twin-engine turboprop from a private airline Europe Aero-Service.
The company made daily flights from Paris’ Orly to Chabeuil airport, near Valence, which is south of Lyon.
On Tuesday 11 April 1989 I had an afternoon meeting planned at FBFC Roman-sur-Isere, a nuclear reactor fuel fabrication plant now owned by Framatome. I can remember distinctly being informed about this flight option because it was routinely used by engineers moving back and forth between Paris and Roman-sur-Isere.
My initial travel plan was to fly Luxembourg-Paris-Valence taking that evening flight of the 10 April 1989.
But quite late in the day I had to change my plans because of a meeting at the La Hague site. I would have to drive 750 km from Luxembourg to La Hague on the Sunday, have the meeting on Monday morning, and then drive nearly 400 km to Paris in the afternoon. I could leave the rental car in Orly airport car park, fly to Valence for my meeting, and finally drive back to Luxembourg after the return flight to Paris.
I’m not sure why I then had to change plans again, possible because the La Hague visit was canceled or moved. In any case, at the last minute I decided to drive the 600 km to Roman-sur-Isere, leaving early morning on the 11 April 1989. I remember I already had the keys of the rental car, and I was able to call the airline and cancel my seat.
You can imagine the shock when I arrived at the main gates of the plant, and learned of the crash. The meeting was cancelled due to the tragedy, but I still spent a good part of the afternoon in the plant.
I also remember the shock at the local hotel at/near the airport when I booked in on the evening of the 11 April 1989. My booking had been for the nights of the 10 and 11 April 1989. At the time, not all the bodies had been recovered and identified, so they naturally expected that I was one of them.
I never question when people talk about being lucky, and I never, never consider myself unlucky
