We have all heard about the extraordinary events aboard the Flydubai plane, flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Sept 30, 2026. The more we learn about what happened on that plane, the more extraordinary and miraculous the story becomes.
This could have been a catastrophe of devastating proportions. The flight was carrying more than 174 passengers, including 27 children, most of them Israelis, when the co-pilot attacked the captain, Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, repeatedly stabbing him inside the cockpit with an axe. The aircraft then plunged into a terrifying dive, falling to 16,000 feet in about two minutes.
And we can surely presume the co-pilot’s evil intentions; after all, see when the attack took place. After three and a half hours into the flight, the Omani co-pilot decided to act, just when the plane was about 30 minutes from Tel Aviv, a time when planes begin their descent into an airport. If he had succeeded in killing the pilot, he would have succeeded in being above Tel Aviv without anyone noticing what had happened, and there, perhaps another 9-11 would have occurred, but the Lord did not allow it.
Most amazing is that one can count five extraordinary miracles that prevented this attack.
The first miracle was the pilot himself. Captain Machchhar had been seriously wounded, and he was on the floor and bleeding heavily. In an interview yesterday, he said that he gave one last push when he activated the cockpit-door release. Since 9/11, cockpit doors are deliberately designed to prevent passengers from gaining access. Had that door remained locked, the people outside might have been helpless. But the wounded captain opened it, and a few passengers rushed forward and fought the attacker. God is good! Baruch Hashem.
But how did the passengers end up right there, near the cockpit door, at that critical moment? The second miracle was that a mother and her daughter had gone to the washroom near the cockpit. From there, they could hear the captain crying for help, something the other passengers farther back could not hear. The mother immediately began shouting for help. Several passengers rushed forward and gathered near the cockpit door.
Then, when the wounded captain managed to release the door, they were already there. The moment the door opened, they rushed into the cockpit. God is good! Baruch Hashem.
As the fight continued and the co-pilot managed to force the plane into a steep dive, a third miracle occurred. At that moment, one of the passengers, a plumber, took the control yoke and pulled the aircraft out of its dive moments before it would have run out of altitude to recover safely. Later, he explained that he had seen this maneuver in a movie. God is good! Baruch Hashem.
And then came a fourth miracle: the aircraft itself survived. The plane had plunged about 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds, traveling at tremendous speed and pointed toward the ground. By then, the aircraft’s rudder, the control surface that helps steer it from side to side, had reportedly been damaged. Yet despite the violent descent and the damage, the aircraft remained controllable. God is good! Baruch Hashem.
Then came a fifth miracle. Two trained pilots happened to be aboard the aircraft. They took control, stabilized the damaged plane, and ultimately brought it safely to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. What were the odds that, at that moment, two additional qualified pilots would be aboard to take over? God is good! Baruch Hashem.
So, think for a moment about everything that had to happen. A wounded captain had to find the strength to open the cockpit door. A mother and her daughter happened to be near that door at the precise moment and heard his cries for help. Passengers had to find the courage to run toward the danger rather than away from it. A plumber with no flight training had to grab the controls and help pull the aircraft out of its terrifying descent. Qualified pilots happened to be on board that very flight, ready to take control. And after plunging thousands of feet at tremendous speed, the aircraft itself still had to remain controllable long enough to land safely.
Change just one of those circumstances, and this story could have ended very differently.
And that is why, when we look at what happened, we see more than an aviation incident. We see 182 lives brought to the very edge of catastrophe, and at every critical moment, someone was there. For those of us who believe in the God of Israel, it is difficult to look at such a remarkable chain of events and simply call it chance.
At a time when antisemitism and hostility toward Israel are rising around the world, there is a powerful reminder here: God has not lost control. Human beings may devise evil. Hatred may grow. Circumstances may seem to spin completely out of control. Yet God remains sovereign. He is still watching. He is still able to intervene. And He is still preserving the people and the nation He has promised not to forsake. That is the message of this remarkable story.
Click here for the Video: Israel and the Nations – Five Miracles at 16,000 Feet