What Really Happened on flydubai Flight FZ1073, and What Rav Berland Said the Night Before

On the night between Monday and Tuesday, the night of Rebbe Nachman's hilula, thousands danced all night before Rabbi Eliezer Berland, who stood on his balcony until dawn. As the Rav has taught, in the shiur in his house before the hilula and in other years, the dancing of Rebbe Nachman's hilula and of Simchat Torah sweetens the judgments.

The next evening, Tuesday, the night of 19 Tishrei 5787, the Rav spoke after Maariv about the holiness of the sukkah. From there he turned to how quickly one can reach Uman today, and to airplanes.

The Rav's words

"If you travel to Uman, it's a two-hour flight... The fastest today is five thousand [km/h]. And there's the MiG... that's three... Now we're at a plane of six thousand. Here there's a space plane, only it's so expensive. Like from New York to California, it arrived within a quarter of an hour, and fell into the sea, because landing it costs more than flying it. So these are things we need to know: what is happening, and what to pray for."

The very next morning: a dive of thousands of meters in a minute

On Wednesday morning, 19 Tishrei, flydubai flight FZ1073 left Dubai for Tel Aviv with about 180 people on board, 166 of the passengers Israeli. At about 8:20 a.m. Israel time, as the Boeing 737 MAX cruised at 34,000 feet over northern Saudi Arabia, the first officer stabbed the captain and pushed the plane into a steep dive. Within about one minute it had dropped below 20,000 feet.

Israeli passengers seated near the front and members of the crew forced their way into the cockpit and overpowered the first officer. Two flydubai pilots who were on board took the controls, and the plane landed safely at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia. The captain was seriously wounded, the Israeli Air Force scrambled fighter jets, and all the passengers came out safe.

Photos taken after the landing show part of the rudder missing from the tail. An aviation expert said the damage was caused by the stress of the dive itself.

"What to pray for"

In his usual way, the Rav speaks in hints. That evening he did not mention any particular flight: he spoke about the speed of planes and about a plane that "fell into the sea," and ended with the words: "So these are things we need to know: what is happening, and what to pray for." The very next morning, a plane carrying about 180 souls, most of them from Israel, dived toward the ground and was stopped at the last moment.

Passengers who rose from their seats, company pilots who were on the same flight, and a plane that landed safely despite the damage to its tail: each of these is a miracle, and together they are an open rescue. "They mounted up to the heavens, they went down again to the depths... Then they cried out to Hashem in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distress. Let them give thanks to Hashem for His kindness, and for His wonders to the children of men" (Psalms 107).