Probably most musicians, at one time or another, experience a “heart-stopping moment” or predicament. Here are some I have witnessed—or experienced myself.
A tuba player waited in vain at the airport for his instrument to be brought to him after the plane landed. With a pounding heart, he inquired after it, and was told after a brief search that it had been wrongly tagged and sent to another destination entirely, but it would be delivered to him at his hotel—next day! In the meantime he had to run around begging other tuba players at the festival not playing when he was scheduled to let him borrow their tuba. He did, finally, get his own tuba back the following day
A banjo player opened his case and found two pieces inside rather than one! The neck of the banjo had broken off right at the resonator. The festival organizers managed to rent him one for the duration, and when he got home he sent off his instrument to be repaired by a banjo repair magician, which it was. I doubt he ever checked it again when flying. I did hear, however, of another banjoist refusing to check his banjo, and when the airline would not let him board the plane unless he checked it, he simply would not board and did not attend the festival.
A trombonist was preparing to play a mighty glissando and threw forward the slide. It slipped from his fingertips and went flying through the air, landing at the
