How Angels Helped Us From 25,000 Feet

“Please hold me, I’m scared.”

My wife clutched my left arm. “Let’s just pray,” I whispered, as I held her close. The cabin lights were starting to flicker.

I’ve been in dozens, if not hundreds of flights before — air turbulence was nothing new to me. But this was, by far, the most severe. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t the least bit worried or anxious.

The passengers would gasp whenever our ATR-72 twin-engine turboprop would suddenly drop 100 feet or more within two or three seconds.

The people seated to our right — who just moments ago were joking, laughing, and talking about celebrities and sports — were now crying out to Mary and all the saints they can remember.

It was hard to see anything outside…

Just dark cumulonimbus clouds and lightning, signaling a big thunderstorm.

We took off just 25 minutes earlier, as the sun was setting over Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. Our pilot, Captain Medina, assured us of clear weather all the way to Davao City. But it was quickly turning out to be the bumpiest, scariest plane ride ever.

After what seemed like an eternity, the pilot announced that we were on the final approach. I noticed he was approaching from the opposite direction. I also noticed heavy rain outside, smashing against the windows. The pilot fought to keep the wings level, but the plane was very unstable, perhaps due to very strong crosswinds.

Finally, at 7 pm, June 2, 2013, our plane, Cebu Pacific flight 5J-215, bounced on the tarmac, then swerved upon touchdown. It went into a skid on the rain-drenched runway, damaging two runway lights. Looking out the window, sure enough, there was a huge downpour.

When our plane stopped at the terminal building, there was a sudden blackout. They told us to remain seated and wait for the airport shuttle.

The co-pilot came out of the cockpit and told us in Filipino that it was a very scary flight. The side wind was very strong, and the heavy rains caused near zero visibility. He pointed to a plane outside our window. We saw an Airbus A320–200 from Manila that wasn’t so fortunate — its wing partially broken and tilting sideways.

Just 10 minutes after we landed, the above plane, Cebu Pacific flight 5J-971, with 165 passengers on board, veered off the right side of the runway soon after landing, falling nose first into a ditch. While no one was injured, they were all badly shaken. Immediately, flights in and out of Davao City were canceled for the next 49 hours.

One of the flight attendants told us that our pilot, Captain Medina, was a very skillful pilot. He managed to land our plane safely, in spite of the very bad weather.

We don’t question the pilot’s skill one bit.

But we know God heard our prayers. He sent His angels to intervene and guide our plane down for a safe landing. We might have also crashed or veered off the runway had we landed just three to five minutes later after the runway lights went out.

We are thankful no one was hurt in the other plane.

God is awesome! He will also hear your prayers when you trust and obey Him with all your heart.