Changing Hawaii
CALL them the Lucky Seven: Susan, Carol, Beatrice, Eleanor, Emma, Janet and Ching. Seven Hawaii women, ranging in age from 47-58, who were booked to leave JFK Airport right after midnight on Oct. 31, aboard the one direct daily flight from New York City to Cairo on EgyptAir. Isle women missed
fatal Egypt flightThe close-knit group of working and retired professionals were excited about their first-time visit to the exotic country.
It would be 10 days and nine nights featuring a cruise on the Nile, camel rides by moonlight, visits to the pyramids and Sphinx and tours of ancient cities and tombs, including those of King Tut and Queen Nefertari.
But when group organizer Susan Gregg scanned the proposed itinerary, she made a snap decision that changed their collective destiny.
The Kahaluu resident called the travel agent and asked that their departure be moved up 24 hours. Since seats were available a night earlier on EgyptAir Flight 986, her request was happily obliged.
On arriving in Cairo, the seven jet-lagged women checked into the Mena House hotel, where Gregg, the group's 50-year-old leader, turned on the TV.
What the author/teacher saw on CNN horrified her: EgyptAir Flight 990 -- the same one the Hawaii contingent had missed by a day -- had crashed into the Atlantic a few minutes after takeoff, killing all 217 people aboard.
Gregg caught her breath and summoned her fellow travelers. On hearing the news, one woman staggered back and leaned against the wall; the others froze like statues, trying to absorb the near-miss.
"We talked about it in terms of the sense of gratitude that we were still alive," remembers Gregg. "I thought it gave a greater depth to our visit, because it could have been us. It was a profound beginning."
Carol Devenot of Hawaii Kai agrees that the close call, while unsettling, managed to amplify her unforgettable experiences on the tour.
For example, while meditating in private rooms within the pyramids, she prayed for the crash victims and processed the importance of living every moment to its fullest.
"It was like a two-edged sword," says Devenot, 58, about missing the fatal flight. "I was grateful that it wasn't me but also felt sorry for those who died. The whole experience managed to magnify and enhance the trip."
THEIR eight-hour return flight on Nov. 7, again on EgyptAir, was quiet and stressful, according to Devenot. "We were holding onto our seats -- literally. It was great to get home," says the retired Kalaheo High School teacher, who was especially happy to be reunited with her 90-year-old mother.
While the trip is pau, its impact hasn't dissipated. Devenot says she continues to have difficulty reading about the crash in newspapers or watching it on newscasts.
Even more traumatic is the theory that one of EgyptAir's pilots may have purposely downed the plane, because "it shows how one person can change so many lives. It shows how one person can make a big difference," says Devenot.
No kidding. For the Lucky Seven from Hawaii -- Carol, Beatrice, Eleanor, Emma, Janet, Ching and, yes, Susan herself -- that person was Gregg, whose decision to change their departure date kept them off ill-fated EgyptAir Flight 990.
"I am so thankful to be here," she says with a nervous laugh, "instead of having somebody like you writing my obit."
Diane Yukihiro Chang's column runs Monday and Friday.
She can be reached by phone at 525-8607, via e-mail at
dchang@starbulletin.com, or by fax at 523-7863.