She Miraculously Survived a Horrific Terrorist Plane Bombing: "When We're Helpless is When God's Power Shows Up Best"

Dan Wooding : Oct 6, 2016
ASSIST News Service

The attack was the only time in history that passengers have survived after a bomb exploded aboard a commercial plane in the air.

(Canada)—[ASSIST News Service] Terrorist Bomb Survivor Jeanette Chaffee will appear on the popular telecast 100 Huntley Street television show. It airs Thursday, October 13 on the GEB America Network at 4:30pm ET/1:30pm PT. (Photo via ANS)

Chaffee recently traveled from her home in Tualatin, Oregon, to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to tape the 100 Huntley Street broadcast in which she shared her incredible story of survival and faith in the skies over Europe in April, 1986, when she was sitting fourteen feet away from a terrorist bomb that exploded on TWA Flight 840, and yet lived to tell her unbelievable story to the world...

About her incredible story of terror in the skies:

In April 1986, Jeanette was on the last leg of her trip from Salem, Oregon, to Athens when a bomb hidden in the life vest under seat 10F exploded over Argos, Greece. Jeanette was sitting just fourteen feet away when the bomb detonated tearing away the inside ceiling and blew a 9' x 3' hole in the side of the plane two rows from her. Five passengers were instantly sucked out the hole and seven others were injured by shrapnel as the cabin suffered a rapid decompression. The remaining 110 passengers miraculously survived the attack. Captain Richard Petersen was able to successfully land the plane in Athens, Greece forty minutes later.

Jeanette remembers how what began as an ordinary travel day turned into sheer terror flying at seventeen thousand feet. "I was jolted awake by an ear-splitting, thunderous boom. It felt like a gun had been shot inches from my head. We were falling out of the sky." (Photo via ANS)

Turning to her right, she saw blue sky through a large hole in the side of the plane. Jeanette thought, This is our coffin. There's no getting off an airplane, but she kept praying that the Lord would miraculously save their lives. "I knew Jesus was sitting with me in seat 8A. I also knew the next time I blinked, I would see Him eye-to-eye." She experienced the peace of God that passes all understanding that the Bible talks about in Philippians 4:7.

Jeanette prayed for a miracle and got one. It is the only time in history that passengers have survived after a bomb exploded aboard a commercial plane in the air.

Understandably, this event would change Jeanette's life forever. "No guarantees of life exist," she said. "I want to share with everyone that now is the time to personally accept Jesus as Savior."

With her book "Extravagant Graces: 23 Inspiring Stories of Facing Impossible Odds," in which Jeanette shares her harrowing experience on TWA Flight 840, she inspires readers to trust in God during tough times by sharing the true stories of world-renowned musicians, missionaries, athletes, and speakers who survived the most distressing personal trials—and sometimes tragedies—in their lives with help from the Lord. (Photo via ANS)

The common theme is real people challenged by situations including the deaths of family members by murder and cancer, drug addiction, and the loss of home and possessions, and how these people were able to face these impossible odds with God's power. The book is a compilation of over thirty-five years' worth of Jeanette's personal interviews of some of the most inspiring and influential people of our time, gathering a fantastic collection of intimate testimonials, many of which have been included in her book. These include the Happy Days singers, Shirley Dobson, and Anne Graham Lotz.

Jeanette's book has been well received and became an instant classic, garnering dozens of five-star reviews on www.Amazon.com. It has also received numerous endorsements. These include: NFL coach to two Super Bowls, Les Steckel; President of Focus on the Family, Jim Daly; and Pat Boone. It's available in stores, online, and on her website.

Note: Jeanette also had the great joy of being able to meet with Captain Richard Petersen, captain of TWA Flight 840 when the bomb exploded. They met on May 20, 2015, near Tampa, Florida, some 29 years after the bombing, and talked together for five hours.

"Captain Petersen told me that his first words to the Athens air traffic control tower [after the bomb went off] were: 'Explosive detonation.' He told me that he always flew his planes ... never on cruise control, adding, 'I fly my airplanes. I love to fly.' He also told me that the 727 was (the) only plane he flew for thirty years prior to the TWA Flight 840 bombing and despite what happened, he continued flying for another five years before retiring." (Photo via ANS)

Jeanette then heard from the courageous captain what was happening in the cockpit, after he announced the problem to the control tower. He said that he "took control of the sky," and then checked out parts of the plane to see if there was any way they could land.

She added, "He also told me that Athens emergency facilities were on strike that day. I was shocked and I said that I saw the fire engines, police, and ambulances out my window. So I asked him, 'Who was driving them?' He replied, 'Anybody!' After we landed in Athens, he even left the cockpit and came back to help get a badly injured passenger on the stretcher.

"Captain Petersen said that he was on the only commercial plane that has had a bomb explode midair and anyone survived.

"During our meeting, he showed me an exact (specially designed to be so) replica of a TWA 727, the only plane he flew for almost 30 years before ever needing to use his expertise on Flight 840 when the bomb exploded ... I'm the only passenger (according to his wife) that he's ever talked to [and] I was so honored."

A re-enactment of Jeanette's own story, "Terror in the Sky" has been aired this year on the international TV program Turning Point, produced by the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). It can be viewed online here.

Read more here.