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Moments In Flight #PS752

We were all heartbroken when news about PS752 broke on January 8th, 2020. I wrote the below work of fiction from the perspective of the black box aboard Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752 within days of the tragedy. At the time, searching for the black box was a prominent news story, as the world sought facts amid the shock and confusion. 

My condolences go out to the loved ones of those 176 people who perished two years ago today. 

Moments in Flight 

Whenever they have to search for me, it’s after a tragedy. With no survivors, I am the first thing that they seek to find; they are in pursuit of answers, in pursuit of truth. 

I was ejected from my designated spot near the plane’s tail, but I continue to store the information as I had been programmed. I know the truth; I only hope that the information I’ve gathered proves to answer the questions asked in times of despair, shock, and heartache.

As I wait to be discovered, I am surrounded by charred debris stretching further than the human eye can see. The wreckage that is scattered around me in millions of pieces — once unified in the form of a commercial airplane full of people with hopes and dreams — will never be fully recovered.

It always bothered me that my sole purpose as a “black box” (which is a misnomer, as I’m actually bright orange) on an aircraft is to shed light on those last moments before tragedy struck. The information I record and store serves to document the last moments of life for those aboard a doomed flight. It’s a condition of my existence that’s proven to be a tough pill to swallow. 

When successfully recovered, my crash survivable memory unit (CSMU) will provide audio recorded from the cockpit and hard data — statistics that are updated second to second — for professionals to analyze.

You need not wait for their analysis because I was there.

I was there when the little girl and her brother begged their parents for more snacks, happy to be on board as they told the people in the neighbouring seats that they had never flown before; I was there to see the newlyweds look at one another with love in their eyes, excited as they took flight; I was there when the university student spoke to the woman travelling home to her husband, whom she couldn’t wait to see.

These wondrous moments were followed by a devastating event that is burned in the memory of those who lived through it; an unfathomable disaster in the lives of those who lost the people aboard my flight; loved ones who would never return home. 

I know that their final moments caused devastation and heartache that spread like a virus without quarantine, as friends and family members of those aboard learned the terrible truth. For those grief-stricken people, the ones who have our deepest condolences, their lives will forever depend upon that one tragic moment to define all others: moments that occurred before, in the presence of their loved ones, and moments that occurred after.

I can imagine how these people feel; they’re afraid that their loved ones suffered. But those people need to know that the end was but a moment. They didn’t see it coming; it happened so quickly, I can promise you that. 

Allow me to remember the final moments so that you can remember and pay tribute to the many moments I did not witness. Regardless of age, the people who lost their lives lived moments filled with happiness, love, and laughter; so many moments in which they loved their family members and friends, served others, and celebrated successes.

Take it from me, a device whose sole purpose is to record the moments: life is not about the final moment lived, it’s about the many moments that made life worthwhile. Since those are moments I could never record, I hope that your memory will serve as your own emotive “black box” to be reviewed when times are tough and the departed are missed. 

Live the moments. They live in you.

If you enjoyed this piece, kindly check out Second Draft Journals by yours truly (A.F.S. Green, author and founder of The Write Results and It’s A Go Publishing). If you’d like to join my email list to be the first to know about additional issues and other publications, please do so here. 
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An Uber Ride for Angel Investors

It was a pleasure to write this piece for Georgian Angel Network! 
Uber benefitted from visionary angel investors in 2010, who were rewarded with riches less than a decade later. 
Whether you’re an angel or entrepreneur, this article will inspire you.

Angel investors see the vision before it takes shape. They feel the passion, understand the dream, relish innovation and are inspired by bold, new technologies that seek to thrust a stagnant industry through a major disruption. Such disruption has the power to change society’s thinking, add to our everyday lexicon and fill a need with such ease, we wonder how we ever got along before its advent.

Angel investors reach for their chequebooks long before the masses have the opportunity to storm the bandwagon. It’s risky, but sometimes, the payoff is extraordinary. On Friday, May 10th, 2019, Uber Technologies, Inc. had its initial public offering (IPO) (NYSE: UBER). Angel investors were rewarded handsomely, as according to The Wall Street Journal, “In 2010, 18 funds and individuals valued Uber at $5.4 million. Today, that same company is worth $82 billion” (*Uber is valued at approximately $76.5 billion at the time of writing this article). Such astonishing returns are not guaranteed, but Georgian Angel Network’s Managing Director, Michael Badham, reminds angel investors that- when the risk pays off- patience is rewarded. He imagines that a number of prospective investors would have refrained from investing in Uber; achieving success in such a highly regulated industry would have been difficult to fathom. By the time the opportunity to liquidate an angel investment presents itself (after witnessing a company’s growth, the addition of services and pivoting, when necessary), angel investors have experienced quite the ride.

Stop on red… or should you?

According to Fast Company, “New shareholders will have [to] contend with how Uber becomes profitable–and if it can.” Though Uber has completed 23 rounds of funding, including Series A funding in 2011 to Series G late-stage funding in 2016, Uber remains committed to their vision as they continue to provide 17 million trips per day across six continents. In a letter to the public, Uber’s CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi stated, “…we will not shy away from making short-term financial sacrifices where we see clear long-term benefits.” Still, profitability (or lack thereof) is something investors consider (however, it is not uncommon for a tech company to go public before becoming profitable). In Uber’s case, the three platforms through which the offer is structured (via Personal Mobility [includes: Ridesharing, New Mobility, Uber for Business and Uber Health], Uber Eats and Uber Freight [includes: Uber Freight for Carriers and Uber Freight Platform for Shippers]) encourages the examination of the company’s potential to pivot, expand within, or reinvent different industries. 

Advance on green 

When considering what’s next for Uber, we must ask ourselves: do Uber’s three platforms exhibit the same entrepreneurial daring that inspired angel investors to invest in Uber in 2010? Now that Uber is a public company, are we interested in joining them for the ride?

When contemplating these questions, potential investors should be aware that Uber is developing other fascinating platforms, including driverless cars and Uber Air.

Autonomous vehicles

Drivers are Uber’s biggest cost, but autonomous vehicles could be more than a decade away. Uber has revamped their commitment to safety after halting testing for nine months and shutting operations down in Arizona last year because a woman was tragically struck and killed by an Uber vehicle that was in autonomous mode (a driver was in the car, but failed to prevent the accident).

In order to continue advancing this initiative, “Uber has poured money into the Advanced Technologies Group’s work—nearly $1.1 billion since 2016, including $457 million in 2018.” When it comes to developing driverless cars, Uber is focused on securing their spot in the driver’s seat.

From streets to skies

Uber is planning to launch Uber Elevate (Uber Air) in 2023, which will offer aerial ridesharing between cities and suburbs. Their goal is to “launch fleets of small, electric VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft in Dallas, Los Angeles, and a to-be-announced international market.”

Investors and the public will scrutinize the future of Uber, but it’s clear that when it comes to this tech giant, the sky really is the limit.

References available upon request.

Author’s disclosure/conflict of interest: None. Please note that this article is for informational purposes only.