Asiana Airlines Flight 214: Faccebook's Sheryl Sandberg Narrowly Avoids Plane Crash

Whether fate or purely a coincidence, all that is certain is that Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg escaped from harm's way this weekend when she decided to switch her flight.

On Saturday, Sandberg and her colleagues were scheduled to take Asiana Airlines Flight 214 from Seoul to San Francisco until Sandberg opted to take a United flight back in order to cash in air mile tickets for her family members. Fellow Facebook executives Debbie Frost, Charlton Gholson, and Kelly Hoffman then followed suit by switching their flights as well.

"I was on another flight from Korea at the exact same time,'' she wrote in an email. "We are ok. My friend on that flight is ok, too."

This simple move that was done then with her family in mind is what kept Sandberg and her colleagues in the clear from the crash landing that has left two Chinese teens dead and injured 181 individuals, 22 of who were in critical condition. The plane was carrying more than 300 people when an improper landing broke its tail off, thereafter causing it to catch fire.

Sandberg's plane landed 20 minutes before the Asiana flight, and this is a fortunate turn of event that she is not letting go without gratitude.

"Taking a minute to be thankful and explain what happened," Sandberg said as she described the decision that saved her and her colleagues from the perils that struck the passengers on Flight 214. "Thank you everyone who is reaching out — and sorry if we worried anyone. Serious moment to give thanks."

Although Sandberg and her colleagues may not have been seriously or fatally injured if they had opted to take the Asiana flight anyway, one cannot argue that changing the flight brought on the best case scenario for the Facebook execs, and much gratitude is certainly due for the favorable outcomes they experienced.

As for those affected in the flight, may the emotionally and physically injured heal and may the families of those who passed find peace in the midst of this incomprehensible event.