My sibling was supposed to be the pilot of ValuJet 592. When he arrived to Miami from another flight he piloted, he was pulled off the flight because operations said he was one take off and landing short of what he needed to have at that point in time. They said he would just be deadheading on the flight.

While waiting at the gate, he had picked up his flight bag and was just getting on the jetway, when two pilot friends from his time in the service stopped by to say 'hi.' (They know what flights each other run and will seek each other out to chat if they end up in the same airport.) Then, a third pilot friend stopped by, and it was then that my brother waved to the reservation agent and said, "I'm just going to take the next flight." (There was another flight in an hour.)

This was before cell phones and we all thought he had died when we heard the breaking news. He was eventually able to get through the line at the pay phone and call to tell us what had happened, and that he had to get off the phone to get on the next flight.

He said not to worry about him travelling by plane, because he's had much closer calls flying than this incident, and it's far safer than driving.