Inside airplane
Inside airplaneReuters

A young woman from the Chabad stream most likely saved the lives of the passengers in a plane full of people when she suspected a malfunction in the aircraft moments before takeoff, according to Crownheights.info.

Respecting her request of anonymity, the site does not identify her, but says she is a member of the Crown Heights community and the daughter of Rabbi Kalman Winefeld. She was scheduled to return from a trip to Israel, where she spent the Pesach holiday.

Rabbi Winefeld told the story to CrownHeights.info:

“My daughter was scheduled to return to New York on Motzai Shabbos from Israel with a stopover in Moscow on Russian airline TransAero. She boarded her flight at Ben Gurion Airport and was seated at the window.

“Moments before takeoff, she realized that something was not right with the wing and heard noises that she believed were not regular noises. She first brought this to the attention of the passengers seated beside her, who in turn laughed it off and said it was just noise from the engines.”

“Not deterred, she persisted, unbuckling her seatbelt and standing up. The flight attendants, who themselves were already seated and buckled in, instructed her to return to her seat. When she told them her concerns about the plane they too laughed at her. She insisted that she will not fly on the plane if they didn’t check it out.”

The airline officials shouted at her and voiced threats, but she did not relent. Faced with what must have been her indomitable conviction, however, they agreed to delay takeoff and investigate her claim. Her father went on:

“After returning to the gate, a ground crew began checking over the airplane. At first they said it would be 45 minutes, but nearly two hours later they removed all the passengers from the aircraft, telling them that it did indeed require repairs.

“An additional three hours later, the passengers were notified that a replacement plane would be necessary, since the problem was far more severe than originally discovered. Passengers were sent home and told to return the following day.

“The issue was so severe that the plane, a Boeing 767, had to be grounded due to the fact that it could have had a mid-air emergency that would have threatened the lives of all those on board, airline officials explained.

“The relieved passengers – many of whom had originally expressed irritation at the woman who caused the prolonged delay – came over to her and profusely thanked her for saving their lives.”

Some might find the incident reminiscent of the miraculous insights of the Lubavicher Rebbe.

According to Chabad.org, on July 23rd 1968, the Lubavicher Rebbe met with Major General Ariel Sharon. During the meeting, the site relates, Sharon periodically checked his watch, since he was scheduled to return to Israel that night. The Rebbe suggested that Sharon stay a little longer and take another flight, and Sharon complied.

"Later that night, the EL-AL flight Sharon had planned to take was hijacked to Algeria by the ‘Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.’ All Jewish passengers were held for five weeks before being released unharmed. According to those released," says Chabad.org, "the hijackers seemed to be looking for ‘someone important,’ and they were enraged when they realized that he was not aboard. It was later revealed that the entire incident was an operation executed to capture Ariel Sharon."