Blessing in Disguise 3
Concluding Part 3 - In the series ‘ Blessing in disguise you have read some lucky people who narrowly missed death . Here are some more such people …
1 . Kim Cattrall - Kim was originally booked on Pan Am Flight 103 on 21st December 1988 enroute to New York from London. She had to stop at Harrods stores , London to buy some special gift for her mom . She had to change her booking at the last minute so that she could buy it . The Pan Am Flight 103 took off on time but exploded over Lockerbie , Scotland killing all 259 passengers and crew on board and 11 residents on ground.But Kim was lucky to miss the flight and survive .
2 . Four Tops - Founded as Four Aims by lead singers Levi Stubbs , Abdul Duke Fakir ,Renaldo Benson and Lawrence Playton was the leading group of singers who remained on top of the charts for several years. They were originally booked on Pan Am ill fated Flight 103 on 21st December 1988 enroute to New York from London which exploded over Lockerbie , Scotland . But they missed the flight due to last minute invites and prolonged filming of their performance in British TV show “ Top of Pops “. They later flew by another British Airways flight and survived .
3 . Elizabeth Taylor and Kirk Doughlas - Elizabeth Tayor popularly known as Liz was one of the most famous Hollywood actresses . She was lucky to dodge her death on March 22, 1958 . Mike Todd was her husband then , her third husband. Both had planned to fly in their private jet plane. But Liz was having cold and running temperature so she couldn’t accompany him. The ill fated single engine plane crashed near Grants , New Mexico and Todd died . The plane suffered engine failure due to overload , high altitude and icing condition.
In this plane not only Liz Taylor but Kirk Douglas was also supposed to fly with Todd but Kirk’s wife didn’t let him go in the plane and so Kirk Douglas was also lucky to evade death .
4 .Cary Grant - Another big Hollywood actor of his time ( active up to 1966 ) Cary Grant survived death by narrowly missing his flight . He was scheduled to fly on Pan Am Clipper “ Yankee” but he changed his plan at the last minute . The plane crashed in 1943 when trying to land at Lisbon .
5 . Waylon Jennings - Waylon was a country singer and a backup singer for the then famous singer and songwriter , Buddy Holly . But Waylon preferred to travel by bus . On February 3, 1959 , Waylon was supposed to fly with Buddy . But the plane crashed shortly after take off and Buddy Holly died .
6 . Maarten de Jonge - Maarten de Jonge is an internationally famous dutch cyclist . He twice survived being killed , both being Malaysia Airline flights . Firstly Jonge was to fly on Malaysian flight MH 370 on 8th March 2014 but he avoided the flight due to long layover. MH370 disappeared over the Indian Ocean with 239 passengers without any trace . Secondly he was to fly on another Malaysia Airline flight MH 17 on 17th July 2014 . But he canceled his plan as the ticket was too costly and he flew by a cheaper flight. MH 17 was shot down while flying over Ukraine and all 283 passengers and 15 crew died. Jonge was lucky to evade death twice.
7. Johnny Rotten - John Joseph Lydon popularly known as Johnny Rotten is a singer and lead vocalist of a band Sex Pistols besides other bands . He missed his Pan Am flight as he had a fight with his wife the previous night . The ill-fated Flight 103 on 21st December 1988 enroute to New York from London exploded over Lockerbie , Scotland killing all on board .
8 . Admiral Richard E . Byrd Jr- Richard Evelyne Byrd was an American navy officer , a renowned aviator , polar explorer and polar logistic organizer . Byrd claimed to be the first to reach both the North and the South Pole by air . On 24th August 1921 he was supposed to go on a trial flight of the airship ZR2. But he could not reach in time as he missed the train . The ill- fated airship exploded midair breaking in two pieces . Byrd survived and subsequently he successfully carried on a number of expeditions over both the poles.
9. John Paul. Getty - J.P. Getty was an American oil tycoon and supposed to be the then richest man . In July 1956 , Getty supposedly had booked his voyage from Genoa , Italy to New York by an Italian luxury liner ‘ Andrea Doria ‘ but he canceled at the last moment as advised by his fortune teller . The fortune teller has warned him that if he attempted to cross the Atlantic he would die . The ship collided with another Swedish liner and it sank killing 46 passengers and crew on board .
10 . George Halas - George Stanley Halas , nicknamed as “ Papa Bear “ and “ Mr. Everything “ , was an American football coach. One day in July 1924 he was supposed to get a steamer to cross lake Michigan to attend an official programme . Halas bought a ticket for the Eastland ferry. He was late to catch up with the ship . But by the time he arrived at the docking site , the ship had turned on its side killing more than 800 passengers . Only a few lucky people could escape the mishap.
11 . Steve Mcqueen - Mcqeen was an American actor and racer . He survived a near fatal racing accident . But in another incident he was supposed to meet Hollywood actress Sharon Tate and others possibly for a night party on the night of 8th August 1969 . But at the last moment he changed his mind as he possibly got a better offer. Fortunately for Mcqueen and unfortunately for Sharon , she was killed with her unborn baby . She was butchered along with four other celebrities by members of Manson Family Cult .
12. Eleanor Roosevelt - Eleanor Roosevel the would be four times first lady of the USA was just two years old when she narrowly escaped death in 1887. She was on board a White Star liner Britannic . While crossing the Atlantic , Britannic rammed into another liner Celtic , resulting in many deaths and injuries. With great efforts of her father she was rescued in a lifeboat . The same White Star Liner used a near identical name to another newly built ship “ Titanic “ which sank in the Atlantic in 1912 .
13 . The Flying Wallendas - Kari Wallenda was born in a German circus family .He performed balancing acts since he was six. The Flying Wallendas is a circus act and group of daredevil stunt performers on highwire acts without a safety net below. He developed a seven men pyramid act on high wire .Though he had met near fatal accidents earlier also but while performing on 30 January 1962 at Detroit , USA , the front man faltered and the pyramid collapsed killing three of his men . Karl escaped death but sustained severe injuries. It didn’t deter him from performing in future and he did it till 1977 .
But luck didn’t favor him in 1978 . During a promotional show on March 22 , 1978 in Puerto Rico he fell from the wire and died .
14 . Antonis Mavropoulos - Antonis is a renowned author and CEO and founder of D Waste Consultants. He had a close shave with death on 10 March , 2019 . He was late by only two minutes to check in the flight no ET 302 of the Ethiopian Airlines flying from Addis Ababa to Nairobi , Kenya . He saw the last passenger going through the tunnel to board and repented for being late . The flight crashed just six minutes after take off killing all 157 on board.
Antonis was accommodated in the flight the next day . But before he could ,he was pulled aside by security staff . As per protocol anyone who missed the flight is a suspect . He was cleared to fly shortly and Antonis was lucky to have dodged his death .
15 . Elvira Isaeva - Elvira, a Russian mum, was booked to fly from Dubai to Rostov on Don , Russia on 16 March 2016 . But the previous night she had overslept due to a birthday party of her friend and missed the flight FlyDubai . The ill-fated plane crashed while landing in bad weather in Russia killing all 62 on board . She was one of the three lucky people to miss that flight .
16 . Eliza Limehouse - Eliza , an American TV personality ,is known as the Southern Charm . In September 2018 she along with her boyfriend and others were scheduled to fly to Bahamas in a private plane . But her boyfriend forgot his passport so Eliza and her BF could not fly . But the plane crashed killing all on board and Eliza survived .
17. Melwyn D’Souza and eight others - On 22 May 2010 , Nine persons including Merwyn did not show up at the airport for Air India flight 812 from Dunai to Mangalore . But the plane overshot the runway while landing at Mangalore . 158 0f 166 on board were killed in the crash and 8 managed to survive. But the group of nine were lucky to miss the flight . .
The End
