He was descending from 8,000 to 7,000 feet when the engine conked out.

You protect that because it pays folks' salaries that we're depending on -- music teachers, librarians. Yeah, there are needs at the site level. But let's not lose sight of this other thing we have going and make sure we're all in it together.

Wayne and I are trying to keep an even keel and talk to our boys a lot, more than we normally do. This has been a real binding event. It kind of keeps your perspective.

Fortunately, there was one nearby. He didn't have a signal on his cell phone.

We went into massive denial because what could we do other than completely freak out?

He's a very determined kid, a hardworking kid, but I guess I never thought it would get to this point. I thought maybe it might be in the next Olympics -- but not this one.