Our daughter living in Israel called and asked if we’d heard about the Flydubai incident. We had heard, but with little detail. So we asked about what was being said in Israel. She shared what her neighbor, Bruria Efune, had written: “Some crazy miracles happened on that Flydubai flight yesterday morning, and the more I read and try to understand, the more incredible it seems.”
Here’s one of the miracles Bruria described: “Nobody got seriously hurt when the plane made a sudden nosedive descent, not even those standing in line for the bathroom.” Can you imagine what it must have been like when the plane dropped more than 16,000 feet in just 35 seconds? It was another miracle the plane recovered from the dive without breaking apart or losing flight capability.
I’m astounded the pilot was able to unlock the cockpit door before collapsing from his stab wounds. And I’m amazed that despite the sharp decline, passengers made it to the cockpit and pushed the door open even as the wounded captain lay against it. They restrained the copilot with nothing but airplane headphone wires, stopping him before he managed to completely sabotage the airplane’s systems.
Bruria highlighted these miraculous efforts: “Seconds later would have been too late … the plane landed safely, even with the rudder torn out, and likely with damaged, leaking hydraulic systems.”
The passengers who saved lives seemed divinely inspired. Luck wouldn’t have accounted for their success. One hero revised the plane’s descent from something he’d learned from watching “Air Crash Investigation.” And there may have been more lifesaving interventions we’ve yet to hear about. As Bruria pointed out, “The plane made two sharp descents and reverses. Who stopped each one?”