The Flight That Forged a Future: How a Childhood Crash Unlocked Entrepreneurial Resilience

Imagine, if you will, being just twelve years old, soaring through the sky, and then suddenly—everything goes wrong. It’s a terrifying thought, right? But for Jason Feifer, who now helms Entrepreneur magazine as its editor-in-chief, that unthinkable moment wasn't an end; it was, in truth, a beginning of sorts, a crucible that forged an unshakeable resilience. We’re talking about a plane crash in 1997, off the coast of Massachusetts, an event that, honestly, most of us would rather not even ponder.

He was in a small plane, and one minute everything was fine, or at least normal. The next, well, the engine had failed. Picture that stomach-lurching silence, the sudden, dreadful realization as the aircraft plunged toward the water. It wasn’t a slow descent either; it was fast. His memory is sharp on the initial confusion, the sensation of falling, the sheer, undeniable reality of the impact. They hit the water, hard, the cabin filling with the chilling rush of the ocean. And then, he found himself underwater, struggling to find his way out. You could say it was a profound, life-altering struggle.

Miraculously, he survived. Others did too, and they were rescued, pulled from the frigid Atlantic. But the story, you see, doesn’t end with the rescue. For Jason, that harrowing experience became less about the trauma itself—though undoubtedly traumatic—and more about a profound shift in perspective. It redefined, in a very real way, how he viewed challenges, risk, and, perhaps most importantly, how he responded when “bad things happened.” Because bad things, he realized, just happen.

This isn't about some grand, sweeping philosophy of avoiding danger; quite the opposite, in fact. What Jason took from that crash was a powerful, practical lesson: you don't spend your life trying to prevent every possible catastrophe. That's simply not feasible. Instead, you learn to expect that obstacles, even disasters, will emerge. And when they do, your focus shifts entirely from fear or blame to a singular, vital question: "Okay, so what do we do now?" It's about problem-solving, plain and simple.

This mindset, born from the belly of a crashed plane, has proven invaluable in the often-turbulent world of entrepreneurship. Startups, businesses, even established companies — they're all just a series of problems waiting to be solved, aren't they? An unexpected market shift, a product flaw, a competitor’s sudden move: these are the business equivalents of an engine failure. And for Jason, the answer isn’t to panic or retreat; it's to adapt, to innovate, to find the next solution. His approach isn't just about bouncing back; it's about anticipating the bounce, preparing for the unexpected landing.

He often speaks about this, about how “failure” isn't some ultimate, final state. It’s just another problem, a setback, a moment to gather yourself, assess the damage, and figure out the next step. It's an active, ongoing process, not a passive acceptance of defeat. This is a man, after all, who literally climbed out of a sinking plane. So, when he talks about facing down business challenges, or about building true, lasting resilience, well, you listen. Because for once, the metaphor is not just a metaphor; it's a lived, harrowing, and ultimately empowering truth.