How Bad French Wireless Helped Three Americans Save Lives on French Train

If it wasn't for failed French technology - wireless service that didn't work on parts of the train - the three Americans who saved the day, would have been too far way to stop the massacre. Here is the opening of the Washington Post story -

A change of seats for 3 Americans led to saved lives on Paris-bound train

By Michael Birnbaum August 23 at 8:04 PM

PARIS — The three American friends who helped foil what could have been a mass shooting on a packed high-speed train bound for Paris started their journey in a different car, they said Sunday, underlining how easily their triumph could have been a tragedy.
When they got on the train Friday in Amsterdam, they could not find their first-class seats, so they sat elsewhere, said Anthony Sadler, one of the three vacationing childhood friends.

 They have been lauded as heroes by President Obama. French President François Hollande on Monday will award them the Legion of Honor, France’s highest decoration. But on Sunday, amid gilding and tapestries in the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Paris, they stayed humble. Only chance led them to change their seats, one said — not heroism.

“We decided to get up because the WiFi wasn’t so good on that car,” said Sadler, 23, a college student. “We were like, ‘We have a ticket to first class. We might as well go sit in first class.’ ”

And that's when the rest of the story starts -