Why? Actually, I'm not even sure how to put this. It may be nothing, it may be something. But I'm not feeling very good about myself.
I woke up with a start on 24 Jan 2010 (Sunday) because I had dreamt of a plane crash.
Let me describe my dream before you read the report.
In my dream, it was the loud thunder claps and lightning flashes which gave me a shock and drew me to the window. There seemed to be a raging lightning storm. I couldn't quite see the rain it was the lightning that caught my attention. I seemed to be in an apartment and looking from the panels of glass windows. My Grandparents, aunts and uncles used to live in an apartment in Whampoa Drive. The sitting room had a whole panel of swing out glass windows. There was no blockage and from the sitting room of that 14th Storey flat, we could see all the way to the sea of ships all the way south of Singapore (even though we were in Whampoa Drive).
In my dream, I seemed to be standing at that window (yes, strange but it wasn't so much the location but the fact that I had a very good view).
I had a very clear view of the dark sky. Because of the lightning, the black sky was lit up orangey red whenever the lightning flashed. I noticed (remember I'm dreaming, please) immediately that the sky was crowded with the flashing lights of planes. I remember asking myself why there seemed to be so many planes flying about.
I observed two planes travelling towards each other but of course they were flying at different altitudes. I held my breath and watched as the two commercial liners approached each other and managed to pass each other successfully. I remember still seeing their flashing lights but the focus was no longer on them. There was another big plane flying in from the right, towards the left. It was nearly in the middle of my focus (meaning, in the middle of this wide panel of glass windows I was viewing from) when out of the blue, a smaller plane came flying overhead the apartment block.
Let me describe this simply:
Large plane --> from 3 O'Clock flying towards 9 O'Clock.
Small plane --> from 6 O'Clock flying towards 12 O'Clock.
Lightning was flashing all the time and I could see only everytime it flashed because the whole dark sky would light up. The smaller plane was heading towards the bigger plane and it was apparent to me that it was making a climb (ascending). I again held my breath and watched as this small plane approached the bigger plane.
The smaller plane was at a lower altitude and was going under the bigger plane.
They crossed each other successfully.
Then, as soon as the bigger plane moved towards the left of my view (left of the windows). The smaller plane who had just passed under it, began to wobble badly. At that moment, (in my dream), I knew the bigger plane's jetwash caused it. I'm no aviation expert and this was a dream, so don't ask me why I would think that.
Anyhow, the smaller plane ascended steeply and I noticed its nose suddenly going right upwards (towards 12 O'Clock) and then it stalled and it was like frozen for a few seconds in that position before it fell straight downwards and out of my sight.
A great orangey red ball of fire lit up the horizon against the whole dark sky and I remember screaming and thinking, 'Oh no! Oh no! The plane crashed! Where's my camera? I could be the only witness to this whole thing'!!! I was screaming frantically for the household to wake up.
The feeling was so horrible that I woke up.
Over breakfast, yours truly couldn't help but relate this to the hubby and kids. They said I was nuts. They also reminded me to stay away from the planes at the Singapore Airshow 2010 (My day job usually requires me to attend the Airshow for work related matters) because maybe it's a premonition. I thought OK we'll see at the Airshow. I said a silent prayer that all the planes at the Singapore Airshow 2010 would be safe.
I walked around all day like with a hangover or something. My head felt so heavy. I recall later that day, as we were in the car on our way somewhere, it dawned on me that perhaps I had gotten that dream because I needed to pray for that plane.
Here's the embarrassing thing. I only said a very short prayer in tongues. It was short because I didn't really believe that I'd be able to sort of prophesy through a dream. Having said that, I really must say that I do not for a second doubt the power of prayer.
Events may not have happened the way I had dreamt it but since hearing and reading about the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines plane, I've just been wondering if I could have done things differently by sending out a message to my prayer chain group. It's silly but I feel like I've let those people down......
This is how I sort of visualized it in my dream:
(The below article was copied from Yahoo News.
Sorry - I don't mean to infringe on anyone's copyright by pasting the below article. I am willing to remove it if anyone miscontrues it as me ripping their news report off. Don't sue me, I can't afford to pay you anyway.)
BEIRUT (Reuters) – All 90 people aboard an Ethiopian Airlines plane were feared dead after it plunged into the Mediterranean in a ball of fire, minutes after taking off from Beirut in a raging thunderstorm on Monday.
More than 16 hours after the crash and with night falling, authorities downplayed hopes of finding survivors and search efforts focused on recovering the remains of passengers still strapped to their seats and the black box flight recorders.
Flight ET409, a Boeing 737-800, heading for Addis Ababa, disappeared off the radar five minutes after taking off at 2:37 a.m. (7:37 p.m. ET).
The Lebanese army said the plane had broken up in the air before plummeting into rough seas. One witness described the impact as a "flash that lit up the whole sea."
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said he did not think the plane had been brought down deliberately, emphasizing "a sabotage attack is unlikely."
Defense Minister Elias el-Murr said that weather "in principle" was to blame for the crash. He later told local media there was information indicating "it was a pilot error" but did not provide further details.
Ethiopian Airlines CEO Girma Wake said he had spoken with Lebanese authorities and there was no word of survivors. Eighty-three passengers and seven crew were on the flight.
Twenty-four bodies, including those of two toddlers, had been recovered. At least six of the bodies recovered were of Ethiopians, officials said.
Only one of the 14 bodies being examined at a Beirut hospital, where weeping relatives gathered, was identifiable. The rest would require DNA testing to confirm identities, Health Minister Mohammad Khalifeh said.
HOPES FADE
Khalifeh said hopes were fading for any survivors. A U.S. Navy ship with advanced equipment arrived in Lebanon to aid in the night search.
Mangled debris, aircraft seats and luggage washed up on the shore south of Beirut near the airport's main runway.
Fifty-four of those on board were Lebanese, 22 were Ethiopian, two were British and there also were Canadian, Russian, French, Iraqi, Syrian, and Turkish nationals.
Marla Pietton, wife of the French ambassador to Lebanon Denis Pietton, was on the plane, the embassy said. Most of the Lebanese passengers were Shi'ites from southern Lebanon who have business interests in Africa.
The Lebanese government declared a day of mourning. Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri visited the airport to meet distraught relatives, some of whom were angry that the plane was allowed to take off in bad weather.
"They should have delayed the flight for an hour or two to protect the passengers. There had been strong lightning bolts and we hear that lightning strikes at planes, especially during take-offs," a relative of one of the passengers said.
Information Minister Tareq Mitri said there was no reason not to give the plane the permission to take off.
"Other planes landed and took off after and before it. There was no reason why the airport authorities should not have allowed it to take off," he told reporters.
INTERNATIONAL HELP
Airline CEO Girma said he did not think the crew would have taken off in dangerous weather conditions.
"There was bad weather. How bad it is, I will not be able to say. But, from what I see, probably it was manageable weather otherwise the crew would not have taken off," he told reporters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
A team of investigators from Ethiopia, including Ethiopian Airlines officials, arrived in Beirut. Boeing said it was coordinating with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board to assist Lebanese authorities in the inquiry.
Lebanese army, U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon, Cypriot police and the British military stationed in Cyprus provided helicopters, ships and divers to aid search-and-rescue efforts in an area off Na'ameh, 10 km (six miles) south of the capital.
State-owned Ethiopian Airlines has positioned itself as a major player in international air traffic in Africa and has recently expanded its Asian network.
Girma said the plane, built in 2002, last underwent a maintenance check on December 25 and no technical problems were found. The plane had been leased from a division of U.S. financing company CIT Group.
Last Friday the airline announced an order for 10 of Boeing 737-800s for $767 million.
Ethiopian Airlines has regular flights to Lebanon, catering for business clients and the thousands of Ethiopians who work there as domestic helpers. Some passengers had been en route to Angola and other African countries.
The last incident involving Ethiopian Airlines was in November 1996 when 125 of the 175 passengers and crew died after a hijacked Boeing 767 crashed off the Comoros Islands.
(Additional reporting by Mariam Karouny and Laila Bassam in Beirut, Barry Malone in Addis Ababa, Tim Hepher in Paris and Michele Kambas in Nicosia; Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Michael Roddy)
