Imagining a free fall in an airplane is difficult. The sense of doom feels inevitable, and fear takes over your whole body. In those moments, all you hope for is a miracle. An expert sheds light on what those final moments might have been like.
Fox News recently interviewed Dr. Alan Diehl, who used to investigate crashes like the one involving the Nelons for the National Transportation Safety Board and the U.S. Air Force. He specializes in aviation psychology and understands what people might think and feel in the air. After learning about the preliminary cause of the crash, Dr. Diehl shared his insights on the last moments of the three Nelons.
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Dr. Diehl compared the Nelons’ crash to another tragic event from history that caused similar intense fear. “Dark terror. That’s what I usually describe in my novel when I talk about [John F. Kennedy Jr.] falling from the sky,” Diehl said. “There wasn’t a voice recorder on his airplane, but I’m sure he and his two passengers were terrified as the plane fell, much like this one.”
Despite the grim situation, Dr. Diehl offers a small sense of mercy. He suggests that the Nelons might have been unconscious before the plane crashed. “The plane may have lost pressurization,” he explained. “If the breakup happened early enough and they lost pressurization, they might have been unconscious or semi-conscious in the last minute or so. That would be merciful. They would say that was God’s mercy.”
Now, it’s up to the official investigators to analyze the data and figure out exactly what caused the crash.