'I thought we were going down'

Jon Gordon thought he was sending his final tweets on flight with family

PONTE VEDRA, Fla. – It was what local author Jon Gordon thought would be his last tweet, his last published writing. It came in at 5:35 on a Saturday in July of this year. The raw emotion, the fear, the love and appreciation for life evident in what he thought would be his final message.

"My plane is doing an emergency landing back to LAX, if we go down, please know that I love everyone," he wrote.

The Ponte Vedra Beach resident, writer, motivational speaker and more importantly father and husband feared the worst, but hoped for the best.

"So my family and I were aboard a Delta Jet flying out of LAX on the way to Jacksonville when we heard the news," Gordon explained. "When the pilot said mechanical failure and all the power went out, I thought we were going down. It was the scariest moment of my life."

Three minutes go by and Gordon has a chance to send a second tweet.

"Please share my books with the world, I write to make a difference and impact lives. My family is with me. God Bless," Gordon wrote.

The fact that Gordon tweeted about his books during those frightening moments caused some to be critical.

"Well, they were like, 'How can you promote your books when you're going down?' I was like I wasn't promoting my books I just wanted to share the messages in my books because that's who I am. I write to make a difference. My books are an essence of me. So when I was dying, I wanted my books to live on and hopefully make a difference," explained Gordon.

Gordon was traveling with his wife and two children. He recalls the tweet regarding his 14-year-old son: "My son just said, 'It means we have more work to do, Dad. God has a plan for us."

"You know, it's something we say as a family, something we believe, that we're here to make a difference," Gordon said about his son's comments. "And so to hear him say that, to affirm that, was a key moment in our lives to realize that this horrible moment of thinking we are gonna die really affirmed why we're here and the difference we're here to make."

In another tweet, Gordon wrote to his Twitter followers, "Possible fire in left engine. Scariest moment of my life. My daughter asked, 'Should I be scared?' I said, 'Just pray.'"

"My daughter wasn't really scared because I don't think she really understood the severity of the situation. My wife was terrified. My wife was sitting behind me so I was able to look behind, and I could see just the fear in her eyes. I mean she thought we were going down," Gordon said.

Once they knew they were all safe, Gordon sent a final tweet: "Still can't breathe."

"I can't breathe and I thought, 'Thank God we made it,'" Gordon said.

Gordon had a chance to talk with the pilots on board that Delta flight and asked if they were scared. They simply answered, "No, we train for this."

Gordon said he and his family look at life differently now, with an even greater appreciation for what they have.

"My takeaway is that life is not about you. It's about making a difference. It's about leaving a legacy. Because when you go, all you have left is the legacy you left and the life you live is your impact on others," he explained.

Shortly after that emergency landing and virtually kissing the ground because they were glad to be alive, the Gordon family boarded another plane bound for Jacksonville, with their minds racing the entire time until they made it home.


About the Authors:

This Emmy Award-winning television, radio and newspaper journalist has anchored The Morning Show for 18 years.