This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Vincent Goh, a 25-year-old working in the Bay Area for a Cantonese publishing house, who was on United flight 869 when it made an emergency landing at SFO. It has been edited for length and clarity. I was on my way to Hong Kong for business, just as I had done three times in the past six months. But smoke coming from the plane had me thinking this would be my last flight. The flight was already very delayed. I was one of the last to board.