Truly Yours, Jules

August 3rd

August 3rd 2022

Dear stranger,

Today I found a news article about her death. I first noticed the headline, I really had not expected it to make actual news papers. The first few weeks after it happened, there were various articles written for news websites, but nothing had made the actual papers. Mostly because these were just speculation, it was a small plane, it wasn't a large scale disaster. Many sites just dubbed it a tragic accident where nothing could have been done, so I tried to avoid reading anything about it.

The newspaper I saw this morning bore the headline "Pilot who crashed plane had taken ecstasy before flight" so as it turns out, the crash might not have been such an accident. We first thought that the engines failed and caused the plane came down not long after take off.

The few articles that had been written about the accident had made it so that it was just an engine failure and nothing could have been done. But the newspaper I picked up today is different. I cannot believe that the pilot was on drugs! The article speculates that while this is not the cause for the crash, it certainly did not help.

The newspaper states that there was enough traces of MDMA per litre of blood to suggest that the pilot had taken it hours before the crash. And while they certainly were not in the air that long, one would assume he was still high enough that it impaired his actions and judgement. Witnesses claim the plane made it 200m in the air before nosediving into the ground and bursting into a ball of flames.

The air accident investigators said that the cause of the crash was down to a stall of the wings, which was due to the take-off being too aggressive and steep. They believe this to be the effects of the drugs the pilot had taken that day. The pilot was a friend of the family, someone we thought we could trust, but apparently that was wrong.

I have found it difficult to tell people what happened to her. I mostly avoid going into details because of my connection to the pilot. Had it have been someone we didn't know, a mistake during a commercial flight then maybe it would be easier.

After reading about more details of the accident, I have decided I do not wish to mention his name, to me this is an insult to my sister. The article mentions that not only was he under the influence while he was flying, he was being investigated for a previous flight the year before. As it turned out, he had flown to Scotland and had infringed the airspace over Liverpool and Manchester airports which apparently was a cause for concern over his airmanship.

He had been advised not to fly for a while after having his license revoked, but all he had to do to get it back was some training and voila, license reinstated. I wish this was something we had known before we were offered the flight.

He had offered to take us both for a trip along the coast as a Christmas present, I was thrilled! I have always loved watching the world below from the air. We had set the date months prior and my sister was really looking forward to it.

The day before the flight, I had a horrible gut feeling that something was not right. I couldn't place it, couldn't describe it. I told my sister we shouldn't go, reschedule and just stay at home for the evening instead. She was far too excited, and tried to get me to change my mind. We had argued when I refused. She didn't want to go alone but she didn't want to miss it either. No prizes for guessing what she chose to do.

I still feel guilty over not putting my foot down more. The last conversation we had was an argument and that just adds to the guilt. I didn't even get to tell her to have a good time. I spent the evening at home in a grump, waiting for her to get back to ask how it was. But she never came home.

I realise I have not mentioned her name yet, it brings me pain but I have been trying to remember her not erase her. She was a beautiful soul. Her name was Juniper, and she was as beautiful and graceful as the flowers. Bringing joy and happiness to every room she went into.

So, lovely stranger, next time you have a drink, take a sip for Juniper. As will I. She will approve more if its a cocktail!

Truly yours,

Jules