Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/24/plane_crash_twitter/
Crash survivor Twitters from burning plane (false)
Geek micro-blogged from safety
Posted in Mobile, 24th December 2008 14:22 GMT
Free webcast: Service level monitoring and management
Having survived a plane crash the first thing most people might do is phone their loved ones, or run straight to the nearest bar for a stiff drink. Mike Wilson became a notable in social networking by deciding to Twitter instead after coming through unscathed from a brush with death.
Wilson was a passenger of a Continental Airlines jet that skidded off the runaway in Denver airport on Saturday after failing to make it off the ground in icy conditions. The Houston-bound Boeing 737 plane then caught fire. All 155 passengers and crew made it out alive though some were injured.
Having safely escaped the plane, Wilson (@2drinksbehind) began relaying his experiences through the micro-blogging site via text messages updates sent by his mobile. He posted a picture of the crash site and complained about not been able to get a drink after passengers were escorted to Continental airlines VIP area.
At times the string of Tweets by the software engineer reads like dialogue from cult comedy film Airplane! (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080339). "You have your wits scared out of you, drag your butt out of a flaming ball of wreckage and you can't even get a vodka-tonic. Boo," Wilson writes.
"This was crash #2 for me. Maybe I should start taking the bus."
And.
"Thanks for all the well wishes everyone. Sorry for the radio silence, but my battery died in the middle of all this and I just made it home."
Blimey. Crash number one, we later learn, was a water landing involving a small plane.
On reading the story our first instinct was that the whole thing might a put-on or art project but Wilson has since popped up on NBC News and Fox to relate his experiences and clarify that he didn't actually Tweet from inside a burning plane.
Which is a relief.
Wilson and the other passengers on the plane eventually made it to Houston in a replacement plane a day later than expected. ®