Father Joal Bernales, a Catholic priest from the Philippines, was en route to Canada to visit relatives when his Delta flight crashed at Toronto Pearson Airport.
Among the 80 people who survived, he says it’s nothing short of a miracle that there were no fatalities recorded despite the plane skidding on its side and landing on its roof.
“For me, it’s really a miracle. I would see everything in the perspective, of course, of faith, in God’s eyes,” Bernales said in a CP24 report.
He even recalled reciting his prayers when the plane was about to crash.
“It was a really hard touchdown. I was so aware of that, so hard. And then, that’s the time it was off balance… And then everything in there comes so fast, and then it stops. But when the plane stopped, everything is in chaos,” Bernales said.
“But good thing that there’s still humanity, that all of us were saying, ‘Are you good? Are you good? Are you good?” he added.
The priest and his fellow passengers were left hanging upside down with some hurt and with “blood in the face.”
Looking back, the priest reflected that everyone on the plane survived for a reason: “You know, my reflection…is that, yeah, we still have a mission in life to finish, because all of us is in the hand of God.”
“I think all of us, the 80 passengers and crew, still have a mission in life to finish in God’s time, God’s purpose. So that’s what I’m thinking right now. Because seeing objectively on YouTube, on the news, the way the plane landed, it’s crazy. You know, all the passengers have no chance of leaving, no chance of surviving,” Bernales concluded.