One Last Call

November 9th, 1999

The man milled about the Uruapan, Michoacan airport terminal. He was uneasy. A Strange feeling inside him. Thoughts racing through his head. He had recently had a fight with his wife. He felt really bad. He would soon board a flight to Mexico City but he would soon return.

Before boarding his flight he summed up the courage to call his wife. Forget the problems, forget the fighting. Start anew. He dropped some pesos into the phone and dialed the number. No answer, just the machine.

So he left the message: "Baby, its me. Sorry for everything thats happened.I feel like working things out. I dont know, I feel strange. Dont know why. Just wanna call you and say I love you. Ill be back in Uruapan in a few days. I miss you. Love you.

Minutes later Transportes Aereos Ejecutivos S.A (TAESA) Flight 725 from Tijuana landed in Uruapan. It had a layover in Guadalajara where 83 passengers had descended. In Uruapan only he and a few others boarded the DC-9 bound for Mexico City.

He thought about his wife and how they would soon start anew upon coming back from Mexico City. But the strange feeling didnt leave him. He boarded Flight 725 and buckled up. The jet taxied down the runway and took off.

5 minutes later and 14 kilometers from Uruapan airport, Flight 725's captain declared an emergency. The planes slats on the right wing had stuck.

"Slats...slats...slats, slats!" were the last words on the Flight Data Recorder of TAESA Flight 725.

The DC-9 with 18 passengers and crew aboard rolled over on its roof and plunged, crashing onto an avocado orchard and exploding near La Tzararacua, Michoacan. There were no survivors.

The wife watched the report on the disaster on the late news that night. She had heard her husbands final, heart wrenching message on the answering machine.

Stunned and in shock she sat down. She couldnt help but cry.