Memory bank, December 20

American Airlines Flight 965 crashed into a mountain in Colombia on December 20, 1995. There were four survivors, all sitting in the same row in the airplane. One of the survivors was Mercedes Ramirez, who is a graduate of Northwest Missouri State University*. She now lives in Lewisville, Texas, and is a motivational speaker. She's motivated.

From the accident report:
The characteristics and magnitude of the impact and subsequent destruction of the airplane indicated that the accident was non survivable. However, 5 passengers initially survived the crash, having sustained serious injuries. One died later in the hospital.
 1997 Pulitzer Prize-winner Byron Acohido wrote about the accident for his newspaper, The Seattle Times. Nowadays he writes for USA Today.

*The NWMSU Bearcats football team won the NCAA Division II National Championship last week! Alumnae everywhere are pleased.