He Survived The Worst Crash In History

     Several years ago, I met Norm Williams at a business conference and we had dinner together.  That night he told me the story of how he survived the worst plane crash in world history, and he told me how his story proves that God gives miraculous supernatural power to Christians who are filled with the “Living Water” that Jesus promised all Christians.  I’ve never forgotten that night or Norm’s inspiring story.

     The crash happened on the afternoon of March 27, 1977 at the Tenerife Airport (pronounced “ten-er-if'”) in the Canary Islands.  Nearly 600 people died instantly in the explosions as two huge planes crashed on top of one another on the runway.  There were no survivors of the first plane, and Norm was one of the few survivors of the second plane.  The truth is that Norm and most of the other survivors in the second plane were Spirit-filled Christians – such as the plump Christian woman that the Holy Spirit gave the supernatural strength to jump seats like a deer and escape the inferno.

     However, Norm was the only survivor who didn’t have a burn of any kind.  His clothes weren’t even scorched.  (He still has the suit he wore that day in his closet, and it doesn’t smell of jet fuel or smoke.)  One of the amazing things that Norm told me was that during the fires and explosions, as people were dying all around him, the Holy Spirit kept bringing a Bible verse to his mind.  It was Isaiah 43:2, which says “When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.  The flames will not set you ablaze.”

     As this verse played in his mind, Norm walked through the balls of fire and flying debris and escaped without a single burn.  His hair wasn’t even singed.  His experience was an exact replay in today’s world of what happened in Bible times to the three Hebrew men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, when they refused to bow to a golden idol of the king of Babylon.  They were thrown into a roaring furnace just like Norm, and – just like Norm – they came out unharmed and without their clothes even smelling of smoke.[1.  See the full story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3:1-30, and notice how Norman Williams’s miracle exactly matches the details of their story.]  Norm’s miracle is proof once again that God’s miracles didn’t end in Bible times, and that Christians today can still experience God’s greatest and most wonderful miracles.

     Norm’s story has been the subject of a best-selling book[2.  The full story of how Norman Williams survived the most deadly plane crash in world history is told in his best-selling book:  Williams, Norman.  Terror at Tenerife.  Medford, OR:  Omega Publications, 1977.  It’s available on Amazon.com.], dozens of newspaper, magazine, and TV interviews, and he has told it to hundreds of Christian conferences and conventions worldwide.

     Because I had dinner with Norm, and because I heard this story directly from him, and because what happened to him is so important to all Christians, I’m including a recording of his experience here in the True Stories section.  The recording was made at a Christian meeting years ago, but I pray it’ll encourage and strengthen you now, the way it did me the evening I dined with Norm.