Seconds to Collision: “I Knew the Lord was Protecting Me”
Jim Pegram, a former Naval Aviator, and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Bedford, Texas area, shares what he’s learned about the Lord during two harrowing near-misses during flight training and a lifetime of church service.
By Debby Adair
Jim Pegram and his wife RoseAnn, 2023. Photo courtesy of Denice Honstein.
Meet Jim Pegram. Today, he’s called many things: Former Naval Aviator, Retired American Airlines Captain, Husband, Father, Grandfather. He also serves as a Dallas Texas Temple Worker and the Hurst Stake Welfare and Self-Reliance Specialist (a stake is made up of about 10 congregations). But there was a time when Jim didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life—or the way the Lord would offer protection and peace throughout his career.
When Jim was 23-years-old, he was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and because of this singular decision, Jim says the Lord opened a career path for him. Jim was interested in space, helicopters, and airplanes, but he says he had a “sharp vision” that his professional life was to be meant to be in the military. He joined the Navy and spent 8 1/2 years as a helicopter search and rescue pilot before transferring over to a fixed wing aircraft.
August, 1983 as a student in Fleet, NAS North Island, San Diego, Calif. on the day of Jim’s advancement to Lieutenant J.G. (Junior Grade). Photo courtesy of the Pegrams.
During his initial flight training, Jim experienced two distinct incidents that confirmed to him that the Lord was guiding and protecting him.
A Right Turn Gone Wrong
Place: San Diego, Calif.
Time of day: Night flight
Visibility: Pitch black
Training exercise: Two helicopters head off the bow of the ship
Jim was a junior pilot in the squadron. When two helicopters fly off the bow of the ship after dark, the standard procedure is that the lead helicopter turns right off the bow. As the pilot of a training helicopter, Jim was to follow the lead helicopter out to the starboard (right) side of the ship. During the drill, the commander took off. Jim flew off straight and heard one of the crew members yell over the intercom “Look out!” The lead helicopter, instead of turning right, had turned left in front of them. He does not know how close they came…but it was close. He was trying to get the helicopter off the ship and had to bank left extremely abruptly to avoid collision.
“Because we turned so sharply to avoid this other helicopter, I got a bad case of vertigo,” says Jim. “I remember telling the copilot that I had vertigo and he talked me through it by saying ‘Okay, just keep your eyes on the gauges and fly by the instruments.’ The thing about this experience is that the lead helicopter pilot never mentioned the near collision at all. I thought for sure he had realized how close we came to collide, but he never mentioned it. But we got back alive, and we were all just happy about that.”
Formal Navy photograph of Jim as a lieutenant, 1986. Photo courtesy of the Pegrams.
50 Feet and Falling Fast
Another very close call with death also occurred in San Diego at night. The helicopter that Jim was flying had a flight system which enabled the helicopter to fly itself down to 50 feet above the water. This feature helped during rescue missions.
“I remember reading the maintenance logbook and there was mention of a glitch with the system. It was signed off in the logbook as being fixed. But it really stuck in my mind that there might still be a problem with this system,” said Jim. “We were going out at night, so I was very aware of it. As we went out of San Diego towards the ocean, we were going to practice an approach to the water where the helicopter would fly itself down to 50 feet. But the helicopter went down to 50 feet and kept going. It did not stop. Because I was watching it close, we got down to about 20 feet or so. I pulled the controls, and I pulled up, burying the controls in my armpit.”
Jim says it was determined the system had not been fixed, and the lives of the crew were saved.
“The Lord protects His faithful servants. Yet the promise of the Lord’s protection is real, and His power is greater than all the forces that oppose His faithful servants. He watches over them. He sends help to strengthen and sustain them.”
–Henry B. Eyring
Blessings from the Lord
As Jim reflects on his life and his career, he gives gratitude for the Lord’s protection and guidance. He reinforces the fact that from the moment of his baptism, the Lord has helped him all along the way, especially as he and his wife, RoseAnn raised and provided for a growing family of five kids.
“Because of my membership in the church, my life has been blessed,” said Jim, “I’ve kept the commandments—I go to church on Sunday and partake of the Sacrament. These activities, coupled with striving to keep the Lord’s commandments, have really blessed my life. And it confirms what it says in the Book of Mormon, that if you keep the Lord’s commandments, you will be blessed. Many of the things I’ve accomplished throughout my life, I could have never done on my own.”
On his next to last flight, Jim is on the flight deck of a Boeing 737 at DFW airport on a trip to San Francisco, March 25, 2021—four days prior to his retirement as an American Airlines captain after 31 years 8 months of flying for AA. Photo courtesy of RoseAnn Pegram.
Debby Adair serves as a Hurst Stake Website Editor and Reporter. She is a former Financial Compliance Officer / Financial Fraud Examiner. She spends her days enjoying retirement, traveling internationally, cooking and interior decorating.