Sometimes the miracle isn’t that the danger never comes. Sometimes it’s that everything needed to confront it is already in place.
That’s the remarkable perspective Glenn Beck shared while discussing the terrifying incident aboard FlyDubai Flight 1073, arguing that behind the chaos was another story—one of providence, courage and people being in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.
According to Beck, the Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight carrying 174 people, including 27 children, descended into chaos when one pilot allegedly attacked another with a knife at 34,000 feet.
As the pilots struggled, Beck said the aircraft plunged thousands of feet and passengers heard children crying as panic swept through the cabin.
Then everything began to change.
When the cockpit door opened during the struggle, passengers near the front reportedly sprang into action, rushing toward the danger instead of away from it and helping subdue the attacker.
But there was still an airplane to fly.
Beck said two additional FlyDubai pilots happened to be passengers on the flight. One ultimately made his way forward and helped regain control of the aircraft. Passengers reportedly used charging cables to restrain the alleged attacker, while an Israeli dentist aboard the flight tended to the wounded pilot.
The aircraft eventually landed safely in Saudi Arabia.
For Beck, that’s where the story moves beyond coincidence.
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“You can call it luck if you want. I can’t,” Beck said.
He pointed to the cockpit door opening at the critical moment, capable passengers being seated nearby, two additional pilots being aboard and a dentist being available when someone desperately needed medical attention.
Beck compared these seemingly ordinary circumstances with the miraculous acts of God recorded throughout Scripture, including the pillar of fire, the cloud that guided Israel through the wilderness and the parting of the Red Sea.
“This is a miracle and a miracle that nobody noticed still happened,” he said.
The story took another remarkable turn after the landing. Beck said Saudi personnel cared for frightened passengers and children, while a senior Saudi official personally thanked the Israeli dentist for helping save the wounded pilot.
Beck described the Saudi official taking the Jewish dentist by the hand and walking with him on the desert runway.
And the timing was difficult to ignore.
The passengers were traveling during Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles—the biblical feast commemorating God’s provision and protection of Israel in the wilderness.
In a world where darkness can dominate the headlines, perhaps this is the part worth remembering: Evil may arrive without warning, but God can already have people positioned exactly where they need to be.
The miracle may not always look like fire falling from heaven or a sea splitting in two.
Sometimes it looks like an open cockpit door, a dentist, a spare pilot and a handful of charging cables.
Abby Trivett is a writer and editor for Charisma Media and has a passion for sharing the gospel through the written word. She holds two degrees from Regent University, a B.A. in Communication with a concentration in Journalism and a Master of Arts in Journalism. She is the author of the newly released book, The Power of Suddenly: Discover How God Can Change Everything in a Moment. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
