Warning: The following post contains random discussion of Lost and may not make a lick of sense to anybody who doesn't follow the show. As such, I the author apologize in advance for any confusion brought on by viewing the following content.

Okay, while in the midst of a heated debate on last night's episode of Lost, I randomly quipped about how the castaways just happened to crashland in the middle of a war between the Dharma Initive and the Others. Still joking, I went on to jest: "Until it's revealed that the pilot purposefully took the plane off course."

And now the gears turn, and my brain churns out the following:

Viewers of Lost this season are aware the Others are a very powerful organization. During "Not In Portland" we are introduced to a mysterious buisnessman who invites Juliet into their organization. She jokes it would take her ex being hit by a bus for that to work out. Which, much to her surprise, happens. Hints are made as to just what they are capable of making happen.

We know thanks to "The Man From Tallahasse" that this same businessman is on the island with the Others (thus cementing their connection). Once again, this group was somehow able to find Locke's supposed father and bring him to the island.

So, is it hard to imagine that the Others could have arranged their arrival on the island? We know that they had planned for Jack to do Ben's surgery, and that they wanted Claire's baby and Michael's son Walt. Kate and Sawyer were on the list, but that could have just been as a means of getting Jack to do what they wanted.

It's quite possible that the Others put events in motion that would put certain passengers on that plane. They're powerful enough that they could've easily gotten one of their "people" to fly the plane off course and towards the island. Unfortunately things went a little awry when the plane was brought down by Desmond and the magnetic forces in the Hatch. Thankfully most of who they were looking for survived.

Of course, that's just my theory on it. It sounds a little more wacky now that I've typed it out. And there are a LOT of what-ifs to consider (the big one being how convenient that certain people surivived the crash). Of course, if you believe there is a mystical element to the Island, it's quite possible that their destinies combined with the Others plans made everything work out. As Ben said, he had a tumor on his spine...and a neurosurgeon fell out of the sky.