Does Human Egoism Know No Bounds?

On September 29th, a Brazilian commercial jet crashed in the Amazon forest killing all 155 people aboard, allegedly following a collision with a small, private, American plane heading towards the States. The Brazilian jet was flying from Manaus to Brasilia, a route that I did less then two years ago. The American six-seater managed to land safely and the black boxes of both are currently being analysed in Canada (a neutral third party). Although I personally did not, my office knew two people on board the Brazilian plane, both of whom were dedicated human rights advocates, one of whom was the mother of a small toddler.

On October 10th, one of the Americans aboard the private plane, a journalist with the New York Times wrote the following piece:

Lessons I Have Learned in my Fifteen Minutes of Fame

My 15 minutes of fame are about over, I profoundly hope. I will not be applying for an extension. So instead, let me share two major lessons I learned after six others and I inexplicably survived a midair collision at 37,000 feet in a business jet over the Amazon rain forest on Sept. 29 — while 154 others in a 737 we apparently collided with fell to horrible deaths in a jungle about 600 miles northwest of Brasília.

First, as business travel stretches all over the world, understand that no matter how innocent you are, no matter how safe you think you are, big trouble can envelop you without warning, and it is a good idea to have a support system in place.

Second, you are an idiot if you travel internationally without a cellphone that will actually work internationally. Meet such an idiot: me. My Verizon phone works fine in the United States. Outside the United States, I might as well be holding a hot dog with mustard in my hand.

"Ouch," said Bruce McIndoe when I told him that I found myself incommunicado, with a useless cellphone, at an obscure air base called Campo de Provas Brigadeiro Velloso in the middle of the rain forest after our harrowing landing in a damaged Legacy 600 business jet.

Mr. McIndoe is the chief executive of iJet Intelligent Risk Systems, a company in Annapolis, Md., that provides predeparture intelligence and on-site crisis intervention for travelers around the world.

Actually, there was no cellphone signal in the Amazon, where we were told — improbably I thought — that there was only one telephone line for the whole base [ed. note: I believe it!]. After 24 hours at the base, we were transferred by military aircraft to police headquarters in Cuiabá, in the state of Mato Grosso, about 450 miles south.

There, a cellphone signal was available when we touched down on the runway. Naturally, my fellow passengers needed theirs to communicate with loved ones and their employers. In an act of extraordinary generosity, one of the pilots, Joe Lepore, who is still in custody in Brazil, allowed me to use his phone to call my wife.

I’m an experienced traveler. How could I be so utterly unable to minimally control my own situation?

... yadda yadda yadda my cellphone my cellphone my cellphone ...

Others expressed some surprise that I would find myself in a jam without a cellphone.

"That actually is pretty dumb, Joe," said Connie Freeman, a former global travel director for Pitney Bowes who is now vice president of Management Alternatives, a company that advises corporate travel directors on cost controls.

....

It’s a given that you have a working cellphone. "Look, it’s global village time, Joe. Hello," said Peter Greenberg, the travel editor of the "Today" show who travels internationally about 250,000 miles a year. "It’s all about options. There are three kinds of people: People who make things happen, people who watch things happen and people who wonder what happened," he said. "If I don’t have the option of being connected, I’m going to be in the third category and I am not going to be a happy camper."

... more yadda yadda yadda more my cellphone my cellphone my cellphone ...

Is it just me, or shouldn't the lessons learned in a situation as traumatic as this be things like Live everyday to the fullest or Don't be so hard on your kids next time they light the carpet on fire or Always tell your family that you love them rather than this drivel? One hundred and fifty-five people died and all this guy learned was to buy a better cellphone? Is anyone else as disgusted as I?

Thanks to Leandra for sharing the article.