Teenager Becomes Sole Survivor Of A Catastrophic Plane Crash Leaving Everyone Shocked
It all starts in January 1985 when a 17-year-old teenager from St. Paul, Minnesota called George Lamson Jr., decided to spend his holidays in Reno with his father and a group of friends. While his friends traveled to Stamford, California to enjoy the Superbowl, Lamson stayed back to enjoy the mesmerizing beauty of Lake Tahoe. Lamson, like most teenagers, enjoyed hockey, scouts and going to church. In 2014 Lamson claimed that he was a person you could rely on to trim your garden and shovel the sidewalk. Basically, Lamson was your kid-next-door.
So while Lamson spent his Saturday skiing in Heavenly Mountain Resort, presumably with his father, his friends were gearing up for the much-awaited game of Superbowl on Sunday. The teenager was so much in love with the surroundings that he expressed his desire to make Reno his future home. Little did he know that going back to Reno, in the future, would bring back bittersweet memories. On Sunday, after watching the Superbowl, the group decided to meet the teenager and his dad at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport. They were flying back to Minneapolis aboard Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 with 65 other passengers and the flight was scheduled to take off at 1:04 am.
A minute after takeoff the crew got distracted by a heavy vibration which eventually alerted the pilots, who thought something was wrong. In order to find the cause of the strange vibration, the pilots reduced power to the aircraft’s four engines, but the vibration continued. Clearly, the engines were working fine, so what caused the vibration? To identify the cause of the strange vibration, the pilots decided to fly back to Reno and thus contacted the tower to request permission to land at the airport. In order to fly back, the pilots had to restore power to the engines, but restoration failed and the aircraft’s wings stalled leading to a catastrophic plane crash.
The plane crashed just two and a half kilometers from the end of the runway near a vehicle dealership and a mini-golf course. The golf course owner saw the jet hurtling towards him and immediately alerted the emergency services. The plane instantly engulfed in flames when it crashed and that impact was big enough to propel Lamson, who was still in his seat, about 40 feet away from the burning craft. While 68 passengers died on-the-spot, Lamson, his father and a man called Robert Miggins survived the crash, however, just a few days later both his father and Miggins succumbed to their injuries leaving Lamson as the sole survivor of a catastrophic plane crash. So what caused the strange vibrations that killed everyone but one? Human error.
Before takeoff, the air start access door wasn’t sealed properly which led to the strange vibrations and the ground staff couldn’t communicate this issue with the crew on board because of a faulty headset. Though Lamson physically recovered from the crash, he suffered from survivor’s guilt for many years. But by 1992 Lamson had moved to Reno and found a job in one of the city’s casinos. Despite the mental struggle, Lamson got married and has a daughter called Hannah, who eventually motivated him to put his past behind him. In 2010 Lamson decided to get in touch with other sole survivors and so he created a Facebook page and eventually connected with Bahia Bakari and James Polehinke and the trio featured in a 2013 documentary directed by Ky Dickens called the ‘Sole Survivor’.
After suffering from survivor’s guilt for years, Lamson has now learned to forgive himself. And he should, too. After all, every day is a new blessing.
What would you like to tell people suffering from survivor’s guilt? Let us know in the comments below. Don’t forget to share this article with your friends
