Out of the Sky

Abstract

On Thursday evening, September 8, 1994, Amy Giza was waiting with her fiveyear-old son David in her parked car in the rural outskirts of Aliquippa, a few miles northwest of Pittsburgh. She was reading a book and trying to ignore the constant distractions provided by David. Shortly after 7 o’clock, when a plane went overhead with a noise loud enough to be irritating, she assumed it was a small plane flying very low, and she did not look up. Then the noise changed to a sort of whine like she had heard at fireworks displays when big rockets go up. David said, “Mommy, that plane just fell out of the sky.” She looked up but saw nothing. “What kind of plane?” she asked. “A giant plane,” he replied. Then the noise stopped. Amy Giza didn’t know it, but another 737 had inexplicably fallen from the skies.