Tragic, another plane down in the icy waters of the Potomac, and another January filled with emotional extremes. My mind shot back to January 1982, Air Florida crash, 79 aboard, failed de-icing, five rescued – two brave souls, Lenny Skutnick, who dived from a bridge to save Priscilla Tiradom, and Arland Williams Jr., who passed the helo’s rescue line to four others and died doing so. This time, there were no survivors. How do we make sense of it?  

We will learn more, but this midair collision – a Blackhawk with a jet on final approach – took the lives of 67 people, all of whom moments before had no inkling they were in any danger.

Since learning about the tragedy – and this is the definition of “tragedy” – my mind has wandered… and wandered. That morning, last Wednesday, I was there in DC, and today I am in Maine, all to plan.

That morning, the ill-fated passengers were in Wichita, filled with plans. Two were former world champion ice skaters, Russian. Other passengers were on the US Ice Skating team. Everyone on that plane, and the four military personnel on that Blackhawk, had plans.

We think we have things figured out, that we are in charge, and that our earthly plans will unfold as we hope, or at least closely. But sometimes they do not.

My mind kept wandering … The ill-fated plane was boarded on a beautiful day in Wichita, Kansas, with passengers expecting to land on a beautiful day in Washington, DC. Their plans changed, radically.

On 9-11, by coincidence, a plane I boarded 45 minutes before the one that hit the Pentagon, killing my entire navy unit, left Washington DC on a beautiful day for Phoenix. It was put down in Wichita.

Lives are saved and lives are lost. Plans unfold as expected and utterly not as expected. How do we make any sense of the seeming randomness, of such sudden, jarring, life-changing events?

Today, we are healthy, tomorrow wrestling with a diagnosis, back to basics, more prayer, reconfiguration of plans, struggling for hope and courage, and reevaluating life. Today, we are on one path, tomorrow another. Today, we are enjoying time with those we love, tomorrow feeling their spirit only.

So, as we look at a tragedy like this one, fortified as we are, removed as we are, able to distance and compartmentalize as practiced, praying for those lost, we struggle to process before we move on.

What else? Is there an “else?”  I think there is. We are right to plan, right to aspire, go and come, do and give, and expect things to work out if we will work, pray, make good decisions, and keep learning – even with tragedies. Planning is good, of course – part of God’s plan.

But that is the cornerstone, right there – God’s plan. He is the “chief cornerstone.” His plan does not always align with ours. The Bible tells us what we know. He is in charge, for our eternal benefit. Yes, frustrating at times, mystifying, unintelligible, utterly inscrutable … and yet, with faith, entirely true.

So, how do we manage tragedy? Perhaps the same way we understand miracles, like Lenny Skutnick diving from a bridge into an ice-covered river to save a soul he did not know, and Arland Williams Jr., age 50, surviving that crash, fearful all his life of water, yet summoning the strength to save four people – in the process losing his own life.

In moments like this, The Beatitudes, Matthew 5: 3-12, help. Christ spoke them on a hillside near the Sea of Galilee, among His promises: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted …blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy; blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God …”  Hard to accept terrible loss, but God’s plan is our refuge in tragedy.

Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC. Robert Charles has also just released an uplifting new book, “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024).