A hero is often described as one who goes beyond one’s normal behavior to aid or assist others. This year’s Emery County Fair concert celebrated the tenth anniversary of the heroes that came forth during the Crandall Canyon mine disaster. Under the right circumstance all of us could qualify as a hero as we instinctively do something that puts us in danger.
In early July, Delta flight 129 was on its way to China after having left Seattle. About an hour into the flight a passenger sitting in first class decided it was time to open the exterior door of the airplane at 32,000 feet. The flight was headed to Beijing, China with 210 passengers and a crew of 11 people. All major news outlets had a story about this flight and this guy. Two flight attendants attempted to stop the man but were shoved away each time by the muscularly guy and he punched one in the face a couple of times. The attendants even hit the man with a wine bottle in the head in an attempt to thwart his actions but that also did no good. The attendants needed help and signaled to the passengers for that help.
One passenger responded, getting hit several times in the face himself, and after a flight attendant hit the guy with a food cart causing him to lose his balance, that passenger got the unruly guy in a headlock and took him to the ground where finally, other passengers came to help and the bad guy was finally restrained and the flight returned to Seattle to dispose of the guy to the FBI. One of the flight attendants and the first passenger that came to their aid were taken to a hospital in Seattle and missed the resumption of that flight. This guy could be described as a hero.
I write about this incident because I know this guy. This guy’s health is not the greatest but he has learned to live with his problems, he continues to live his life and has learned to ignore his issues.
I know this guy because he is my neighbor; we share a gate in the fence of our back yards. Yes, he lives right here in Emery County in Huntington.
Lon Arnold, a businessman whose work is not local but throughout the United States and Canada with his work extending into South America, Asia and Australia. Arnold was on a business trip when the above incident happened. He was just hoping to grab some sleep on the long flight but instead he became a hero because it was required, not because he wanted to. We all need a hero from time to time; we just hope that one is there when needed.
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