A hankering for a Hot Pocket may have saved his life.
When a twin-engine charter jet slammed into an Akron, Ohio, apartment complex on Tuesday just before 3 p.m., Jason Bartley's building took the brunt of the devastation.
The 38-year-old factory worker, who is usually home at that time, left to run errands at 2:15 p.m. Upon tackling his to-do's, Bartley didn't go home right away. Instead, he headed for the Dollar General to buy a pizza Hot Pocket for dinner and another Hot Pocket for breakfast before returning home.
About six minutes after the plane crashed, Bartley drove up to his normally quiet, residential neighborhood and found thick smoke and orange flames filled the sky. Nine people on board the plane were killed.
"My apartment was the one that took the direct force hit," Bartley said, calling his near-miss "dumb-luck."
Having lost everything but his car and the clothes he was wearing that day, Bartley said that first day of the accident left him in a fog — and now he realizes he's lucky to be alive.
