Air Crash in the Himalayas

*"I left here, ten years old, on a jet with my parents. We never reached our destination. I lost my family in that crash, and I became the lone survivor."*
―Danny Rand[src]
The **Air Crash in the Himalayas** was an assassination orchestrated by Harold Meachum and Madame Gao and staged as an air crash accident, in order to prevent Wendell Rand from exposing the illegal activities being conducted within Rand Enterprises. Danny Rand became the lone survivor and was rescued by the monks of K'un-Lun.

## Background

*"This factory. It's in Anzhou. It's where we were headed when my plane crashed. My father, he... He never visited the foreign sites. He must've suspected something was going on."
"Heroin?"
"Maybe Gao found out he was onto her."*
―Danny Rand and Claire Temple[src]
In 2001, Rand Enterprises co-founder Harold Meachum began receiving treatment for terminal cancer. Around the same time, he and Wendell Rand were approached by Madame Gao, who sought to make a business deal. Rand disapproved, but Meachum agreed to the deal without question.

Unbeknownst to Rand, Gao promised to cure Meachum's cancer if he built several laboratories in China for the purpose of expanding her drug manufacturing operation.

Rand uncovered Meachum's actions and charted a plane to China, with the intention to take his wife Heather and their son Danny with him, not telling them that he was planning to expose the existence of the laboratories.

Meachum later met with Madame Gao and told her about his plan to prevent Rand from bringing back proof by causing his plane to crash mid-flight. Despite Madame Gao's insistence that it would bring unwanted attention, Meachum convinced her to go through with the plan.

Before the Rands left the United States, Meachum injected the pilots with a poison he previously obtained from Madame Gao.

## Air Crash

*"The plane, it started to fall apart. Something hit me in the head. My mom, she... she came to see if I was okay. Then the roof was gone. Then, my mom... she was gone. My dad, he told me he loved me. And then... then everything went white."*
―Danny Rand[src]
En route to Anzhou, both pilots succumbed to the poison and lost control of the plane. In the main cabin, the increasing turbulence caused Danny Rand to hit his head, prompting Heather to make sure he was still conscious.

At that moment, the roof of the plane ripped off and caused Heather to be sucked outside, where she fell to her death. As Wendell told Rand that he loved him, the plane crashed into the Himalayan mountain range, instantly killing the former and knocking the latter unconscious.

## Aftermath

*"I was in this huge snowdrift. I was hurt. It was snowing."
"You must have been cold."
"I was cold. But I could see pieces of the plane scattered over the mountainside."*
―Danny Rand and Paul Edmonds[src]
Regaining consciousness, Danny Rand attempted to find his mother's body but was unable to do so and stayed next to his father's corpse. As he lay in the snow, members of the Order of the Crane Mother found the boy and took him to the mystical city of K'un-Lun, where they would spend the next several decades training him.

In the United States, newspapers reported on the crash, convincing the general public that Rand died with his parents.

In 2003, Meachum purchased a building where he could live in secret after his resurrection. The following year, Meachum died and was resurrected three days later. He proceeded to live his new life, unaware that Madame Gao used the opportunity to start infiltrating Rand Enterprises and controlling it from the inside.

## Appearances

* *Iron Fist*
	+ *Season One*
		- *Snow Gives Way* (flashback)
		- *Shadow Hawk Takes Flight* (flashback)
		- *The Blessing of Many Fractures* (flashback)
		- *Lead Horse Back to Stable* (flashback)
		- *Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch* (mentioned)
		- *Eight Diagram Dragon Palm* (mentioned)
		- *Under Leaf Pluck Lotus* (mentioned)
		- *Immortal Emerges from Cave* (mentioned)
		- *Felling Tree with Roots* (mentioned)
		- *The Mistress of All Agonies* (mentioned)
		- *Bar the Big Boss* (mentioned)
		- *Dragon Plays with Fire* (mentioned)
* *The Defenders*
	+ *Season One*
		- *Worst Behavior* (mentioned)
		- *Royal Dragon* (mentioned)
* *Luke Cage*
	+ *Season Two*
		- *The Main Ingredient* (mentioned)
* *Iron Fist*
	+ *Season Two*
		- *Heart of the Dragon* (mentioned)
		- *A Duel of Iron* (mentioned)

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *Iron Fist: 1.01: Snow Gives Way*
2. ↑ *Iron Fist: 1.03: Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch*
3. ↑ New York Bulletin | Joy and Ward Meachum Special Report
4. ↑ *Iron Fist: 1.09: The Mistress of All Agonies*
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 *Iron Fist: 1.13: Dragon Plays with Fire*
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 *Iron Fist: 1.04: Eight Diagram Dragon Punch*
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 *Iron Fist: 1.02: Shadow Hawk Takes Flight*
8. ↑ *Iron Fist: 1.07: Felling Tree with Roots*