Her Parents Were Supposed To Be On A Flight That Crashed With No Survivors — The Miraculous Reason They Didn’t Board The Plane
Standret | ShutterstockAnna Noel shared the heart-stopping story of her parents' monumental near-miss that quite literally saved their lives, and made her own life possible.
All of us have had those near-miss moments that in hindsight seem like they could have altered our lives. It's awfully tempting to look back on what could have been and ask, "What if?" But Anna's parents' story proves that those moments when things almost went differently can very well be the best things to ever happen to us.
Anna's parents narrowly missed a deadly plane crash in 2000 because her mother was stricken with morning sickness.
"My parents were supposed to be on a flight that every single passenger died on," Anna said in a video about her parents' story. "My parents had gone to Mexico very, very often because they were planning on moving out there, so going on an international trip was nothing to be ever concerned about."
The morning of January 31, 2000 was different, though. "This particular morning, my mom got extremely, extremely sick, and my dad chalked it up to being anxiety," she said. But her mother knew in her gut that it was something else.
Their tickets were non-refundable, so her dad was extra invested in making the flight. "But my mom is so sick, she is throwing up," Anna said. "There's no way she can travel. They end up missing the flight, and I'm sure my dad was probably a little bit annoyed, but soon he would be very thankful."
It turned out that her mother was pregnant and was suffering from intense morning sickness. "Though my mom did end up losing the baby, that baby's purpose was to save my mom and my dad's life," Anna said. "And then they had me."
Anna summed up the story as being a "reminder" that if "something happens to disrupt plans you already had, maybe it's for a reason."
Her parents were supposed to be on an Alaska Airlines flight that crashed in the Pacific Ocean.
On January 31, 2000, Alaska Airlines flight 261 was flying from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to Seattle, Washington, when it crashed into the Pacific Ocean due to a catastrophic loss of pitch control from equipment failures. All 88 people aboard, including two pilots, three cabin crew members, and 83 passengers, perished in the accident.
Both pilots, Captain Ted Thompson and First Officer Bill Tansky, were posthumously awarded medals from the Air Line Pilots Association for heroism for their efforts to save the plane. Their story loosely inspired the 2012 Denzel Washington film "Flight."
From Anna's account, we know that the death toll of flight 261 might have been 90 if not for a life-saving turn of events.
Incidents like this are examples of the phenomenon known as the 'burnt toast theory.'
Dmytro Zinkevych | Shutterstock
The "burnt toast theory," which has become popular on social media, is the idea that small inconveniences that disrupt your plans are often saving you from even bigger troubles. The name comes from the way burning your toast might add a minute or two to your morning routine.
You burn your toast; you have to remake it, and now you're suddenly going out the door a few minutes later than you normally would. Those few minutes, or maybe even seconds, that reoriented your course just might have saved you from something far worse than burnt toast.
Explaining the theory, psychologist Dr. Brianne Markley, PhD, said, "It's a concept based on reframing ... Maybe it slows you down a bit, but it may also give you an extra two minutes to breathe while you wait for new toast. Or maybe being an extra five minutes late prevents you from hitting all red lights on your way to work."
In the case of Anna's parents, the burnt toast theory certainly caused something more consequential than missing red lights. To some, it may seem like a naive way to explain random occurrences. But experts think that believing in the idea of fate can actually be comforting, and it does highlight the value of just trying to go with the flow a bit more when mishaps or negative situations arise.
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.
