Shahzada Dawood, one of the men who died on board the OceanGate submersible, apparently survived an near plane crash a few years ago. According to a 2019 blog post that has resurfaced, written by his wife Christine Dawood, she detailed their plane flying through a storm and for a brief moment, thinking it was the end for them.
"We all have a story about why we do what we do," the blog post started out. "One incident changed everything once again and made me take the path I’m on now."
Christine goes on to detail what ultimately led to their near-death experience: "I should have known when they cancelled our flight and put us on the next one. We should have taken the sign, gone back home and had a long and generous breakfast. But we didn’t, and this flight became one of the most memorable ones of my life."
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"The start was uneventful and so was most of the cruising but just as the seatbelt signs came on to alert us to our imminent landing approach, the plane took a deep plunge," the post continued. "I later read that a plane doesn't drop more than three to five metres during turbulence, but my stomach in that moment would beg to differ. The whole cabin let out one simultaneous cry, which turned to a whimper and then silence. Dead silence."
She went on the describe that the plane took another plunge, shaking from side to side. "I needed something to hold on to, something stable in a shaky metal tube thousands of feet above the ground."
"I've read many times that people start to pray in such situations or that their life flashes by like a movie," she shared. "My husband told me later that he was thinking of all the opportunities he’d missed and how much he still wanted to teach our children."
"There was a moment of stillness when we were out of the clouds but the relief I longed for didn't come," the post described. "As the plane turned, my side lifted forcing me to look down to my left. My husband faced me, our eyes locked and our hands interlinked. No words were needed. He was as scared as I was and yet we were together. ‘Until death do…’ No, don't go there!"
Christine ended by talking about how the plane finally steadied and touched down. "It's then that I realised that my life had changed and would never be the same again." And just as she wrote then, it's quite possible that the same is true for now.
The five passengers of OceanGate's Titan were presumed to be dead or lost after a debris field was found on Thursday. It was stated that it included a landing frame and a rear cover from the submersible.
