{"id":1451,"date":"2015-02-14T11:57:11","date_gmt":"2015-02-14T16:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eddiejones.org\/?p=1451"},"modified":"2015-02-14T14:35:42","modified_gmt":"2015-02-14T19:35:42","slug":"the-reports-of-my-birthday-are-greatly-exaggerated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eddiejones.org\/the-reports-of-my-birthday-are-greatly-exaggerated\/","title":{"rendered":"The Reports of My Birthday Are Greatly Exaggerated"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"My<\/a>On Sunday March 1, 2015, at 7:20 PM, Southwest flight 4363 departed Orlando International Airport on a heading of 045 degrees and at a speed of 260 knots. As the aircraft cleared the coast of Florida pilot Skip Wiley reported to air traffic control that the plane\u00a0had struck a large flock of gulls, disabling both engines. Several passengers, including Eddie Jones, seated by a\u00a0window seat in the rear of the plane, saw the left engine on fire. Wiley discussed with air traffic control the possibility of attempting to land at the Daytona Beach International Airport, however, he\u00a0quickly determined ditching the plane in the ocean was his\u00a0only option.<\/p>\n

At 7:48 PM, air traffic control lost contact with Southwest flight 4363. The Coast Guard was notified and a rescue mission launched. The debris field stretched from several miles\u00a0off Flager Beach towards the Gulf Stream. Despite two days of search and rescue, no survivors were recovered.<\/p>\n

As fate would have it, Jones celebrated his birthday a few days earlier at the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove. Serving as faculty on the Asheville Christian Writers\u2019 Conference<\/a>, Jones was honored with an impromptu birthday party. The event was the\u00a0result of a Facebook picture<\/a> that had recently resurfaced on the page of Cindy Sproles<\/a>. Despite numerous attempts to explain that Jones\u2019 birthday was March 14, not February 14, congratulatory birthday wishes for Jones poured in. With a nod to Mark Twain, Jones is reported to have said:<\/p>\n

The reports of my birthday are greatly exaggerated.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Psalm 139:16 states: \u201cYou saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me had all been recorded in your book, before any of them ever began.\u201d Perhaps God –\u00a0taking into account\u00a0Jones’ premature birthday celebration –\u00a0determined\u00a0the gifted writer\u00a0had\u00a0overextended his stay on earth. Or maybe March 1 really was his time to go.<\/p>\n

\"Summers'<\/a>In any case, Jones may be<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0somewhere off the coast of the\u00a0Bahamas<\/a>, a place he loved and where someday hoped to retire.\u00a0Or maybe\u00a0Jones faked this\u00a0account of his death and is sailing in the Caribbean with his friend, Stu Summers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We may never know.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Sunday March 1, 2015, at 7:20 PM, Southwest flight 4363 departed Orlando International Airport on a heading of 045 degrees and at a speed of 260 knots. 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