All was silent except for the steady purring of the single engine plane. Overhead, the high clouds looked like ripples of sand formed by the wind on a beach. A few thousand feet beneath the plane the blue surface of Lake Michigan was still and smooth. No small boats were on the lake this late in December, at least none which the pilot and his friend with him could see.
It gave the pilot, Rick Henderson, a strange feeling to realize that in all the miles of space around him, his plane was the only thing breaking the silence. It seemed odd that it could be so quiet only a short distance from one of the world’s largest and busiest cities, Chicago, where the noise never stops.
The pilot’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted as the constant purr of the plane’s engine changed. There was a strange noise as if the engine were gasping for breath . . . and then silence as it quit.
“What’s going on? What’s happened?” asked Mike Simonelli, sitting in the seat next to Rick.
“I don’t know . . . some kind of engine trouble,” Rick answered with a troubled look.
He ran his eyes across the instrument panel. The needle on the altimeter was steadily falling.
The plane was gliding. Rick set the necessary switches on the instrument panel to restart the plane’s engine. He pushed the starter button. Instead of the whir of a smoothly running engine he wanted so badly to hear, there was nothing.
“Tighten your shoulder and lap belt,” Rick told his friend. “We’re going to make a crash landing.”
“We can’t, Rick, the water is freezing! We can’t stay alive in water that cold.”
“What do you want me to do? The engine won’t start!” Rick explained sharply “Try to stay calm; it’s our only chance.”
He turned the dial on the radio to the emergency frequency. His hand was shaking and he fought to control his nerves. He heard a radio bleep on his headset as the Coast Guard Station picked up their signal. “Do you hear me? Do you hear me?” Rick asked urgently into the microphone.
“Glenview Naval Air Station here. Please identify yourself. Over.”
“This is 9910 Delta ... ..Rick Henderson ... in a single engine plane. We’ve lost our power and we’re going down! Over.”
The radio operator at the station hit the emergency alert signal. Men dressed in flight suits stopped what they were doing and rushed to the heliport.
“What is your location reading? Over.”
“Five or six miles directly east of the Sears Tower.”
“Rick!” Mike shouted intensely, breaking into the radio conversation, “the water . . . we’re going to crash into the water!”
Rick peered out the side window, trying to gauge the plane’s height. The mirror-like surface of the lake made it difficult, almost impossible to know just when they would hit.
“Brace yourself!” the pilot warned his friend.
The landing gear struck first. The wheels sliced through the water. With a crash the body of the plane slammed into the lake. Water hit the windshield in torrents. The two men inside lurched forward as the plane came to a halt. Their shoulder belts kept them from being thrown through the window. “You okay, Mike?”
“I think so ... shook up, that’s all.”
“Let’s get out of the plane before it sinks.”
The two men crawled out the doors onto the wings of the plane. Around them they could see nothing except empty sky and water. The plane was sinking bit by bit.
“Try not to move, Mike. It might help the plane float longer.”
They stood on the wings, waiting. “What’s that in the sky over there?” Rick suddenly asked.
“Looks like an orange and white helicopter. It’s the Coast Guard!”
The helicopter was soon hovering over them. A door in the side of the helicopter opened and Petty Officer Glenn Anthony lowered a basket by a cable to the two waiting men. They climbed in and a winch pulled them up into the helicopter.
Less than an hour after crashing they were in the Coast Guard Station drinking hot coffee with the three officers who rescued them.
If it had not been for the nearness of the Coast Guard Station to the site of the crash, events might have turned out far differently for the two men in the plane. For instance, what would have happened if, instead of the base being only 10 miles away, it had been 100 miles away? The plane would have disappeared beneath the water and the two men would have had to swim to stay afloat. They might have lasted 10 or 15 minutes in that cold water. Then they would have been lost. Thankfully for them that wasn’t the case.
Thankfully for us, too, the Lord Jesus is a Saviour who is always near. The moment we call on Him to be our Saviour is the moment He saves us. “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:1313For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13).
“Do you hear me?” is a question which might have to be asked of men but never of the Lord Jesus. He will hear “whosoever” calls to Him. “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.” Isaiah 59:11Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: (Isaiah 59:1). If your sins are of the worst kind it doesn’t matter. He will hear you when you call on His name and He will save you. “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:1818Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18).
If the power of sin has a tight grip on your soul and you find yourself doing all sorts of things you never thought you would, call upon the Saviour. He is near and will hear you. He will break the power of sin in your life. He loves you and will free you from your sins. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8:3636If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36).
Have you called on the Lord Jesus to save you? He is listening.
ML 01/28/1990