In a rare manifestation of goodluck and perhaps answered prayers, an unidentified passenger on the ill-fated Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 is among the 28 that survived the crash.
The air mishap occurred on December 25, Christmas Day when the flight took off and was en route Grozny in Russia.
It was making an emergency landing near the Kazakh city of Aktau.
The plane was en route to Grozny in Russiabut it was diverted due to fog.
The passenger’s video recordings showed moments when the flight had already run into trouble with cabin crew making emergency announcements while oxygen masks were down for passengers to use.
In the midst of the agitations and confusion, the passenger was seen reciting “Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar. Laa Ilaha Ila LaHu, Muhammadu Rasul Lahi,” a recitation Muslims are admonished to recite all the times especially during crisis.
Called Kalmat Shadahh, it means acknowledging the greatness and oneness of God (Allah) and that Mohammed was his messenger.
The passenger who had survived the crash came out with some bruises on his body while still recording the aftermath of the crash coming out to continue his recitations.
His videos has gone viral since Wednesday when the incident happened.
Footage shows the aircraft heading towards the ground at high speed with its landing gear down, before bursting into flames as it lands.
The airline said the plane “made an emergency landing” about 3km (1.9 miles) from Aktau.
It took off from the Azerbaijani capital Baku at 03:55 GMT on Wednesday, and crashed around 06:28, data from flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed.
Unconfirmed reports from Russian media said the aircraft might have collided with a flock of birds before crashing, BBC reported on Wednesday