COLliveMiracles in the Skies: 174 Saved In Stunning Hashgacha Pratis on Hijacked Flight
The extraordinary events aboard the flydubai flight from Dubai to Eretz Yisrael are being described by passengers as nothing short of a tremendous neis — a remarkable chain of Hashgacha Pratis in which one potentially catastrophic development after another ended, B’chasdei Hashem, with all 174 passengers alive.
Passengers said Shema Yisrael as the Boeing 737 MAX plunged violently through the skies. Israelis rushed toward the cockpit to confront the danger. Additional pilots happened to be aboard the flight at precisely the moment they were desperately needed. And despite a terrifying descent and visible damage to the aircraft, the plane remained controllable long enough to make a safe emergency landing.
For the passengers and their families, there was one overwhelming feeling afterward: Hodu LaShem Ki Tov.
The First Neis: The Aircraft Survived The Plunge
The aircraft had been cruising normally at approximately 34,000 feet when it suddenly entered a terrifying nosedive.
Within moments, the plane was hurtling downward, eventually reaching approximately 15,000 feet while accelerating to extraordinary speeds.
Passengers described the aircraft plunging and spinning so violently that they were convinced their lives were ending.
“It felt like, that’s it. It’s over. September 11 is happening again,” one passenger told Channel 12.
After the aircraft landed, images revealed that part of its rear rudder was missing.
Former Shin Bet aviation security chief Arik Zer told Channel 12 that the damage was likely caused by the tremendous forces generated during the violent descent, rather than by an external impact.
And yet, despite everything the aircraft endured, it remained in the sky.
The wings remained intact. The aircraft remained controllable. And ultimately, it was able to land.
The Second Neis: Critical Seconds
As the aircraft plunged, there was almost no time to act.
According to an analysis cited by B’Chadrei Charedim, had the uncontrolled descent continued for roughly another 45 seconds, the aircraft could have reached the ground.
It was during those precious moments that passengers and crew members sprang into action.
Several Israelis rushed toward the cockpit, where a violent confrontation had taken place, and helped subdue the alleged attacker.
One passenger later described three of the Israelis who rushed forward with two simple words:
“Real heroes.”
“It’s hard to explain just how heroic they were,” he said.
The Third Neis: Pilots Were Sitting Among The Passengers
Then came another remarkable piece of Hashgacha Pratis.
Additional flydubai pilots and crew members happened to be traveling aboard the very same flight.
At the moment they were desperately needed, they were there.
Flydubai has confirmed that an altercation occurred on the flight deck and that other flydubai crew members traveling aboard the aircraft helped secure the plane before it diverted to Saudi Arabia.
With the original pilots injured and the cockpit engulfed in chaos, there were qualified aviation professionals aboard who could assist in bringing the aircraft under control.
Had those individuals not been passengers on that particular flight, at that particular hour, the outcome could have been very different.
The Fourth Neis: The Plane Could Still Fly
Even after the immediate danger was brought under control, the ordeal was far from over.
The aircraft had plunged thousands of feet. Its rudder had sustained visible damage. Both original pilots were injured. Passengers had witnessed a bloody confrontation inside the cockpit.
And they were still thousands of feet above the ground.
Yet the aircraft responded.
Control was restored, the flight was diverted toward Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia, and the damaged Boeing 737 MAX was brought safely onto the runway.
The Fifth And Greatest Neis: 174 People Came Out Alive
There were 174 passengers aboard the flight, including 27 children, according to the Israeli report.
Not one passenger was killed.
Not one of those families received the phone call that, during those terrifying moments, seemed frighteningly possible.
Instead, the doors eventually opened in Saudi Arabia and the passengers walked off the plane.
During the plunge, passengers said Shema Yisrael.
Some later said they were convinced they had only moments left to live.
Then came the safe landing.
After a violent cockpit confrontation, a plunge of thousands of feet, tremendous speeds, damage to the aircraft and an emergency landing in a foreign country, 174 passengers were alive.
The courage of the passengers and crew members who acted during those critical moments cannot be overstated.
But for the Yidden aboard that aircraft, there was something even greater behind it all.
The right people were in the right seats.
The passengers reached the cockpit at the right moment.
Qualified pilots were aboard when they were suddenly needed.
The aircraft remained intact.
The controls continued responding.
And 174 passengers lived to tell the story.
B’chasdei Hashem.
הודו לה׳ כי טוב כי לעולם חסדו.
