THE LAST DANCE July 1, 1981

I’d pushed my luck all summer, but this time the ice-laden wings, and the Alaska turbulent mountain winds would win the battle.
Until now I had everyone believing that my exceptional flying skills had saved the day. But Lady Luck had been on my side.
The brute of an airplane staggered with the weight and size of this load proving too much for a safe landing. My attitude had always been, “Come hell or high water, full steam ahead.”
The sheer granite walls closed in, would this be my last dance. Stupidity or stubbornness became the cause?
Adrenalin gushed through my veins, my mind screamed, “Fly the plane" while the stall horn screamed like a locomotive whistle.
Like race horses pounding around a track, thoughts darted through my mind. Turn around and head for the safety of a long and paved runway? But, that would be too easy. “PUSH ON,” The moss-covered cliffs of the canyons grabbed at the wings. A metal-twisting crash was inevitable with certain death in the boulder-filled ravine below. The heavy cargo would destroy everything in its path.
Time and space seemed to close in as the nearness of the shear granite walls created a suffocating feeling in my chest.
I was a dead man. This was a bad dream. Movement, space and time switched into slow motion. The end was near, fear was absent. A calm entered my soul. My stubbornness had brought me to this dilemma. Now was the time to pay up....