Document text
Couple from Medford almost took doomed jet Browns don't dwell on what-ifs By Gary Nelson of the Mail Tribune When Jack and Dorothy Brown wanted to delay their Elderhostel tour of Egypt, they tried to sign up for a later tour group, but it was full. The Medford couple had a wonderful trip anyway, although two weeks earlier than they had planned. When their return flight from Cairo touched down in New York Sunday, they learned that the group they had wanted to join had perished hours before when EgyptAir Flight 990 plunged into the Atlantic. "We finished our two weeks and were sent home Sunday morning, and that flight left Saturday night to start their trip," Dorothy Brown said. "And they never made it." Flight 990 left New York at 1:19 a.m. EST Sunday, and crashed just before 2 a.m. The Browns' flight home hadn't yet left Cairo, which is seven hours ahead of New York, but the Browns took off unaware of the fate of the next tour group. Thinking back now, Brown said, she's convinced their tour guide had heard about the crash, but didn't tell them. "I think he knew when he put us on the plane, but he didn't want to frighten us," she said. "He was jumpy -- and he was never jumpy in the whole two weeks we were there." The two weeks were "an absolutely wonderful trip, and very strenuous," Brown said. "I would recommend people take the trip before they're in their 70s, which we are," she added. "It's just that the antiquities don't come to you, you have to go to them." She said she worries about the effect the crash may have on travel to Egypt. "Their number one thing is tourism, and this is going to hurt them very much." And, while it was a shock to learn of the tragedy -- and how easily it could have included them -- Brown takes a philosophical view. "We kind of feel, if it's your time, you'll go," she said. "We certainly don't dwell on it." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA