Photo:DAWOOD HERCULES CORPORATION/AFP via Getty Images
DAWOOD HERCULES CORPORATION/AFP via Getty Images
Years before he boarded theTitansubmersible, Shahzada Dawood survived a terrifying ordeal on a plane, according to his wife.
In a2019 blog postthat has resurfaced as rescue crews race to locate the missingOceanGatesub, the British Pakistani businessman’s wife, Christine Dawood, detailed a life-changing flight in which their plane “plunged” multiple times while flying through a storm.
The billionaire father and the 19-year-old son he shares with Christine, Suleman, are among the five people on board the missing submarine thatdisappeared on Sundaywhile heading to view the wreckage of the Titanic.
While it is unclear when their flight occurred, Christine wrote that it was initially canceled — which she took for a bad omen.
“The start was uneventful and so was most of the cruising but just as the seatbelt signs came on to alert us to our imminent landing approach, the plane took a deep plunge,” the mother of two wrote. “I later read that a plane doesn’t drop more than three to five metres during turbulence, but my stomach in that moment would beg to differ. The whole cabin let out one simultaneous cry, which turned to a whimper and then silence.”
As the plane began to plunge and “shook left to right,” Christine wrote that she gripped her husband’s hand and “there was a moment of stillness when we were out of the clouds but the relief I longed for didn’t come.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“As the plane turned, my side lifted forcing me to look down to my left. My husband faced me, our eyes locked and our hands interlinked. No words were needed. He was as scared as I was and yet we were together. ‘Until death do…’ No, don’t go there!” she wrote.
Finally, the pilot was able to land the plane safely.
“I felt a squeeze of my hand and heard somebody talking to me, but I was frozen still," she wrote. “It’s then that I realised that my life had changed and would never be the same again."
The searchfor the missing sub began shortly after the vessel “lost all communication” with Canadian expedition vessel Polar Prince “approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes” into its dive, according to United States Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick.
The Oceangate submersible Titan.Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
On Thursday afternoon, the United States Coast Guard announced that a“debris field” had been discoveredduring an underwater search for themissing submersiblethat was traveling to the site of theTitanicwreckage.
source: people.com