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A
Heroic Sacrifice
One
of the worst snowstorms to hit Washington,
D.C. in decades buffeted the city on January 13,
1982. A considerable accumulation of snow brought
automobile traffic to
a halt, including a giant traffic jam on the Arland
D. Williams Jr. Memorial Bridge
complex. This bridge spans the Potomac River and
connects the District of Columbia to Arlington County,
Virginia.
The
moderate to heavy snowfall temporarily closed the
Washington National Airport, three-quarters of a mile
away. Among the affected aircraft was a Boeing 737-222
bound for Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This was Air
Florida Flight 90, comprised of 74 passengers
including three infants and a crew of 5. About an hour
and forty-five minutes after the scheduled departure
time the plane took off from runway 36 at 3:59 p.m.
The two-engine blue and green jetliner headed north
and made a shallow left turn. The path of Air Florida
Flight 90 presumed a 700-foot clearance over the
bridge.
However,
at 4:01 p.m., a mere two minutes after leaving the
runway, and unable to stay aloft, with nose raised and
tail down, the ill-fated 737 crashed into the bridge.
The aircraft struck seven occupied vehicles, shearing
the roof from one automobile and crushing four other
cars. It also ripped out 180 feet of railing before
plunging between the bridge spans, through the ice to
the bottom of the river, 30 feet deep. The plane
vanished except for the tail section, which had
separated from the body of the aircraft and floated.
In an instant, four motorists were injured, four
motorists were killed and all but six people on the
plane were dead. Five passengers and one flight
attendant climbed from beneath the icy waters on to
the wreckage of the tail section.
Rescue
was dependent on the gallant efforts of the crew of a
National Park Service helicopter. They lowered a line
with a ring on it to a balding man in his 50's with a
mustache. Instead of seizing the lifeline for himself,
he passed it to another survivor. This he did when the
helicopter returned four more times. However, when the
helicopter made its sixth trip to the wreckage, Arland
D. Williams, Jr. was gone!
He perished beneath the icy waters with the balance of
passengers and crew at the bottom of the Potomac
River, there at the base of the former "14th Street Bridge" - which today bears his name.*
Mr.
Williams died so that strangers could live!
Another
Man, approximately 2,000 years, gave His life so that strangers
– including YOU and ME – could live. That
man was ---JESUS CHRIST.
“For
when WE were still without strength, in due time
Christ died for the ungodly.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die;
yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to
die. But
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while
we were still sinners, Christ died for us”
(Romans 5:6-8).
Life
through Christ is available to those who: believe
in Him (Acts 16:30-31), repent
of sin (2 Corinthians 7:9-10), confess
Jesus before Him (Romans 10:9-10),
and are baptized
(immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins
(Acts 2:38).
Having been BORN again, we are then to LIVE for
Him (2 Corinthians 5:15).
Jesus
DIED so that we might LIVE – a truly heroic
Sacrifice!
In
response to what He has done for you, will YOU
not DIE to sin, be BURIED with Him in baptism, and
RISE again to LIVE for Him?
God bless you!
David
A. Sargent, Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
*
Louis Rushmore, http://www.gospelgazette.com/gazette/1999/feb/page2.shtml
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