“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”
Acts 4:13 (NIV)
Peter and John are described as ordinary men who did astonishing things with signs, miracles and healings. People are impressed by the extraordinary, but God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Here is a true story and an example of just that.
In July of 1989 an off duty airline pilot, named Denny, boarded United airlines flight 232 from Denver to Chicago. There were 296 passengers on board. While the plane was at an altitude of 37,000 feet, a loud boom was heard and the plane lost all three of its hydraulic systems. Denny, the off duty pilot passenger, headed to the cockpit to offer his help to the flight crew. He ended up manning the throttles while the crew tried to prepare for an emergency landing.
Without a hydraulic system in place there’s no way to steer a plane. Denny, still managing the throttles, was able to keep the plane aloft while making a series of 360 degree turns to the right as it approached the airport in Sioux City, Iowa. Unable to decrease the speed they had all the passengers brace for a crash landing. First responders were on site and ready for the plane’s landing.
The plane landed with a crash and burst into flames but 184 people survived, including all of the flight crew, and they exited the plane. As one survivor was exiting, he heard a baby crying and ran back into the smoke filled plane, and found an 11 month old baby girl under a pile of rubble. The crash threw her body from row 11 to row 26, and yet she was not injured. Most people had some injuries, but 13 people walked away with no injuries at all.
Tragically, 112 people died in the crash, which was devastating, but the miraculous outcomes were worth noting. Aeronautic experts said that a plane that loses its hydraulic system in mid flight, should have immediately nose dived straight into the ground, with no survivors.
This brings us back to Denny, the off duty pilot passenger, who was only on that flight because he changed flights earlier that morning in order to arrive at his destination at a different time. In the end, he was the key player in miraculously landing a plane with no hydraulic system, saving 184 lives, including children and babies.
Denny had no more flight hours or experience than the flight crew who were in that cockpit. He claimed that he was just an ordinary pilot, who made an extraordinary landing, and as a believer in God, he told reporters that he believes God put him on that plane for a purpose. (Amen to that)
Pilots have since tried to duplicate with flight simulators, what Denny did that day, keeping that plane from nose diving, but no one has been able to do what he did. It has been considered one of the most impressive commercial airline landings ever performed in aviation history. Heaven sent some help to that plane on that day, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.
Denny, the off duty pilot passenger ended up saving more than half of the lives on board. I write this as we enter the month of May, in honor of Denny, who passed away in May of 2012 from brain cancer. I’m sure heaven welcomed his final landing in heaven that day.
God does extraordinary things through ordinary people, and sometimes He sends extra angels along to help. On that day, He sent a human angel named Denny.
Lord, thank you for your grace and goodness which comes through our trust in you. Help us all to be instruments in your hands as you miraculously save and transform the souls of people all around us. Amen
