Al Drucker Rescued From A Severe Storm

[Guest guest]

and to stay alive in that awful turbulence. I called on the radio, “Mayday!

Mayday! Please help. If anyone can hear me please help me!” But there was no

answer. We were over an uninhabited wilderness area in the mountains of

Northern Nevada. There were no radio stations anywhere near. Finally the fuel

gauge was bouncing on empty, the airplane itself was coming apart, and I had no

energy left to fight. I just let go of the controls, knowing full well that in

no time at all in such a maelstrom, the airplane might be flipped onto its

back. For the first time in thirty-five years I turned to God for help. When I

was a little boy I thought very often of God, but then, when we came to America,

science became my god, and I forgot all about God. But now, after all those

years, I cried out to God, “O Lord! Please come and help me! I don’t want to

die!” But then I let go of even that hope and added, “Let thy Will be done.” It

was a complete resignation to the Divine Will. Suddenly, this wonderful voice

came over the radio, “Aircraft in distress, can you hear me?” And from that

point on this angel of mercy guided me around the worst cells of the storm and

brought me safely into an airport 50 miles away on the other side of the

mountains. The airport was open for only about 10 or 15 minutes. And during

these few minutes a snow plough had cleared off the runway just in time for

this little airplane to come flying out of the clouds and land. After four

hours of battling the elements, I was exhausted. Now, I thought, at last the

danger was over. But then, almost immediately after we touched down the storm

hit again in a swirl of snow. Suddenly I had my hands full again trying to keep

us

from crashing. A torrent of wind had picked up one wing and was about to flip us

on our back. I quickly managed to get the power back on and turn the airplane

into the wind so that it could ride out the storm. Just as it had gotten

around... plop... plop... plop... the engine quit as the last drop of fuel was

used up. But now we were safe. At that moment, the passenger woke up and said,

“What happened?” I knew everything would be OK. The control tower man told me,

“I don’t know how you got here, but you can thank God you’re alive.” “A ground

controller guided me here,” I replied. “He had a radar and saw me in trouble

and vectored me here.” And the tower-man said,”Are you kidding? That’s an

Indian reservation out there... a wilderness area. For two hundred miles there

is nothing. No ground stations, no controllers, no radars.” Following are

Excerpts

from Sri Sathya Sai Sathcharitha, 'Tapovanam' written by 'Jandhalaya

Venkateswara Sastry' where the author has given an account of what happened

next .... The authorities (of the aerodrome where they had landed) advised Al

Drucker to fly south towards Mexico as a severe snowstorm was gathering

strength just then. He got his plane serviced quickly, replenished the fuel

tank and travelled by the same place to reach the borders of Mexico. the two

friends searched for some shelter. To their immense relief they discovered that

they were in Indra Devi's (an ardent devotee of Swami) ashram. The whole place

was lit up. When they called out nobody answered. So they opened the outer gate

and cautiously made their way in. Soothing music was being played. When they

neared the door they found a small group of persons standing before a photo of

some

holy person clad in red robes and were offering 'aarti'. The photo was covered

all over in 'Vibhuthi'! In a flash, Al Drucker felt that there was some

indefinable connection between this red-clothed holyperson and the voice that

had guided him to safety not lonf ago. Through Indra Devi he heard about

Bhagawan Sathya Sai's Divine acts of love and compassion. Within a few days

days thereafter he travelled to India and reached Swami in Prasanthi Nilayam.

(Sharing With Sai Love) Ram.Chugani Ram ChuganiKobe, Japanrgcjp

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