One of my uncles was a pilot with Lebanese International Airways in the late Sixties, flying the Convair 990A, the fastest subsonic airliner ever built, able to cruise at close to Mach 0.90.
LIA's 990s, along with a number of other airliners, were destroyed by Israeli commandos in late 1968 in response to an attack on an El Al airliner in Athens by Palestinians. My uncle was on the field at the time of the attack and tried to rush out to save his plane but was restrained by his co-pilot, an action that probably saved his life.
LIA collapsed as a result of this attack. My uncle and his friend and co-pilot both wore Breitling Navitimer watches and when the end came and they went their separate ways, they exchanged watches, each one being engraved on the back with a sentiment in English and French.
Before he was able to leave Lebanon, my uncle died. I don't know the circumstances. After his death, my father acquired his meager personal possessions, including the watch and some Lebanese pounds. No one has ever worn the watch. It stays in my mother's cedar chest along with other family memento mori.
