A former co-worker has a much more interesting story. He was in Alaska scheduled to ride a very small shuttle plane. He was asked to bump his seat for another and just hop on the next shuttle 30 minutes later. The plane he was bumped from went down in a lake-— no survivors. How’s that for a twist of fate.
My Late Marine B-I-L was a Crew Chief on Sea Stallion (as I remember - a flying brick) in Vietnam.
He was on Watch standing on the deck of the Carrier when his relief showed up from below deck ten minutes early. The guy tells my B-I-L to go below and rest up, he’ll take it from here.
On his way to his bunk, my B-I-L hears all sorts of commotion, alarms clanging and people running up the ladders.
Apparently, as soon as my B-I-L left the Deck, his Relief was ordered onto a departing Chopper. As it lifted off, an inbound Chopper ran into it midair and everyone in both Choppers went over the side to their watery graves.
He told me the guys name. Wish I had written it down. My B-I-L told me he always thought of the guy before going to bed, every night since it happened.