Flight to Heaven Read online

  About a month later, back home in Long Beach, another phone call came from Dr. Graham. He wanted me to meet with his photographer at the airport for pictures, and he asked me to dress in my pilot’s uniform. I had no clue what he was up to, but I complied. The next day Paula and I met the photographer at the airport, and she took several pictures of me standing in front of different types of airplanes.

  A few weeks after that, Dr. Graham’s office called, asking me to come in for follow-up X rays. Although surprised, I agreed.

  Returning to the familiar office once again, Dr. Graham met me in the waiting room wearing a good-sized smile. Without a word, he grabbed my shoulder and turned me into the hallway past the front reception desk. I shuffled in front of him.

  Evel Knievel’s framed photo had always been the first portrait in a hallway gallery of celebrities, patients of Dr. Graham. But now, to my complete amazement, my photo hung in that prestigious first position. A large color portrait of yours truly, standing next to a Piper Navajo, hung on the gallery wall.

  Needless to say, I was stunned and humbled to be worthy of such an honor.

  Then three years later, on July 18, 1979, Dr. Graham and his photographer friend met Paula and me in Los Angeles at my favorite restaurant, the Proud Bird. The aviation-themed restaurant is situated on the approach end of Runway 25 at LAX. The big jets land right in front of you. By then I was a pilot for TWA.

  After dinner, we toured TWA’s facilities and I showed them the inner workings of the airline. We talked, we laughed, and we fellowshiped.

  Although Dr. Graham was my grandfather’s age, he and I had become close friends. If you wonder how this could happen, it’s because all over the world, every day, people from all ages, nationalities, and races share the most amazing relationship on planet earth. They are one in a bond of love—the love of God flowing among brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ.

  The most awesome, glorious experience on earth, next to our relationship with God through Jesus Christ, is being a part of the family of God.

  Only a few months later, just after finishing initial pilot training on the Boeing 707 with TWA, 111 pilots were laid off. I was one of them. This was a huge shock and disappointment.

  Due to the fact that I had failed the flight physicals while interviewing with a couple dozen other airlines previously, I couldn’t just go fly with another airline. Dr. Graham, knowing this, thought I might be devastated. So he came by to offer encouragement.

  “You know, Dale and Paula,” he said, “God can use this furlough for good.”

  I smiled. “You’re right, Doc.”

  “He’s done that so many times before. So don’t worry about this. You and God, together, you’ll bounce back.” Now Dr. Graham was the one saying God would take care of it.

  The doctor was right. With that furlough came the birth of our jet charter, jet pilot training, and jet aircraft sales company—and a very different future. Years later, I was recalled by TWA.

  Dr. Graham has finished his race. I’m so grateful that heaven is his home now. I look forward to our wonderful reunion.

  LIVING A DIFFERENT DREAM

  Some would say I have lived my dream. I see it a little differently. I did not so much live my own dream as I lived the dream God had when He dreamed of me.

  I have flown with Him on over a thousand mission trips, plus the thousands of professional flights. Here and there on those trips I have seen reflections of heaven in the tens of thousands of faces of strangers who became family to me. Brothers and sisters in Christ, so full of love and joy and unity that it seemed like echoes of the love I felt in heaven.

  I have experienced so much.

  What an adventure!

  I tend to think in aviation images. One image that comes back often is the one-year anniversary flight that I described earlier. The words are crystal clear in my memory: “Burbank Tower, this is 37 November, ready for takeoff.”

  “37 November, roger, you’re cleared for takeoff, runway one-five.” A pause, then the words “37 November, this is Burbank Tower. A very . . . big . . . congratulations to you . . . from all of us!”

  Tears fill my eyes as I remember my takeoff on that emotional flight. Greater tears come when I realize that the words I most long to hear are not theirs . . . but His: “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”

  Enter into the joy . . .

  For three days in a coma I experienced something of that joy. Both the experience of it then—and the anticipation of it now—have charted the course of my life.

  I emerged from that coma to see again . . . walk again . . . fly again.

  And most important, to live again.

  SIGNING OFF

  This is your captain speaking: Before I sign off, I want to thank you for taking this trip with me. May the Lord’s protection be upon you wherever you go. Wherever it is, may God go with you. May He be your Captain, and you the copilot. And when at last your journey is over and it’s time for your wings to be folded, know this: Your homecoming will be worth the trip it took to get you there, however bumpy the ride, whatever “crashes” you experience along the way.

  Yes, it will be so worth it.

  You can trust me on that!

  HOW THIS BOOK CAME ABOUT

  When people find out my husband was the only survivor of a horrific airplane crash and that he also experienced a journey to heaven, they are often curious about how these events have impacted my life and our marriage. They also like to know how this book came about. Let me explain.

  Dale and I met at college in Pasadena, California, almost two years after the crash. My dorm mate had a crush on him, and Dale was the one person I heard “all about.” He was known as the reformed campus rebel, having been expelled the year before the accident for disciplinary reasons. But due to his remarkably changed life since the crash, college authorities allowed him to return, still in a wheelchair.

  Dale was an enigma. He was still a rebel, yet he possessed a strong and tender heart for the things of the Lord. His faith in a God who cared and interacted with him on a personal and intimate level was unique, powerful, and attractive.

  A year after we met, Dale and I were married. He continues to be my best friend. We’ve raised a family together. We’ve started businesses together. We’ve traveled the world together. We’ve experienced wonderful successes as well as severe challenges . . . but always together. For almost forty years we’ve also ministered side by side. I know him extremely well, and he tells me I’m the only one who truly understands him.

  Throughout the years Dale told me several times that he had had an out-of-body experience following the crash. I strongly suspected he had visited heaven, but for some reason he would not talk about it. Why was I suspect? Simple. All the signs were there.

  What I didn’t know about was Dale’s commitment not to share about his journey to heaven with anyone other than his grandfather unless God clearly instructed him otherwise. And when Dale commits to something, he is unbendable.

  A few years ago, while Dale was starting to write about his life experiences, we were discussing the moments immediately following the crash. As I had done before, I began to ask probing questions about what he remembered. This time he was unusually quiet. So I asked more questions. He got up and walked around the room. I pressed harder. Suddenly he stood still and silent for several minutes. Then in the greatest emotional response I’d ever seen from him, he let it spill out. He finally revealed to me what I had suspected all along. Dale had visited heaven after all.

  As Dale recounted his amazing journey, he paced the floor. I grabbed a pen and paper. He talked. I scribbled notes. This went on and on into the night. The intricate details, the intensity of the concepts, the incredible descriptions . . . I was stunned. His recall was so precise and so completely aligned with the Bible, I knew immediately his experience was not only real but also sacred.

  Dale answered each of my questions quickly, but always with gr
eat emotion. There were no pauses, no hesitations to his story. His entire awesome journey to heaven was there buried deep in his heart. I was so astounded by his descriptions that at times I froze in place, in awe of what God had revealed to, of all people, my own husband. I have never been more convinced of Dale’s honesty and sincerity as when he finally unloaded the secrets of his heavenly journey, the secret he had kept for almost forty years.

  For the next several days, hundreds of dots started to connect in my head. So many things I had thought were strange about my husband now made sense. These quirks were, and still are, some of the leftover effects of his heavenly journey.

  Dale’s values and priorities completely changed after the airplane crash. That’s the primary reason he is dramatically different from anyone I have ever known. He is sensitive toward and strongly drawn to relationships where there is unity and love at the core. Dale doesn’t look for facts but the truth in each situation. He sees under the surface of things. He studies the Bible from his heart rather than his head and knows it intimately. Since the crash, he is drawn toward certain types of music. He has a quest to understand order in science, but only to understand more about God. He is fascinated with light and the properties of light as well as space and astronomy. And the list goes on and on. Without question Dale has been profoundly and permanently affected by his visit to heaven.

  After much prayer, Dale finally agreed to write about his heavenly journey, but only for immediate family. At the time neither of us dreamed it would ever go beyond that. However, over the next several months, God used a series of events to clearly confirm it was time to share not only about Dale’s amazing survival and recovery, but also about his journey to heaven and back.

  You should know that his story is verifiable. There are medical records, witnesses, and the lasting results of Dale’s changed life. I am probably the best witness to the validity of this story because I’ve studied the documents and I know almost everyone in this story personally. I still have the X rays, the letters, the newspaper articles, hundreds of photos, the FAA reports, and more. I also know the man. And I, too, have been impacted by the life-changing experience that has affected Dale each and every day of the last four decades.

  Due to the injuries sustained in the crash, primarily his difficulty with short-term memory, Dale has had to work enormously hard to accomplish his vocational dreams. But the physical limitations that still challenge him also serve as blessed reminders of his miraculous survival. He’s learned several creative “tricks” to compensate for his injuries and, incredibly, has flown for over forty years as a professional pilot following the accident that almost took his life. And probably because of the crash, Dale spent most of his professional career as an award-winning flight instructor and examiner, trying to do his part to improve aviation safety. He is respected by colleagues as one of the best pilot instructors and safest professional aviators in the business.

  It has taken a lifetime to more fully reveal God’s faithfulness in Dale’s life. And that faithfulness has culminated in this book.

  I hope you have enjoyed Dale’s story and that some part of it has encouraged you in your own journey. God continues to direct our lives, and believe me, after four decades, it is still quite a ride.

  —Paula Black

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Capt. Dale Black is a retired airline pilot who has dedicated his career to professional pilot training and aviation safety. Capt. Dale has flown for over forty years and has more than seventeen thousand hours of flying experience in a variety of two-, three-, and four-engine commercial jets, as well as many corporate jets and general aviation aircraft. He is a former aircraft systems instructor for the Boeing 747, Boeing 727, Boeing 737, and Boeing 707 aircraft. He has been a senior simulator and flight instructor on the Boeing 737, the Learjet 35/36, Learjet 24/25, Learjet 55, and Cessna Citation I and II. He has been a flight examiner for the Airline Transport Pilot Certificate, the Boeing 737, and a variety of jet-type ratings. Additionally, he has been a certified flight engineer on a variety of commercial jets. Dale is also a former flight standards captain, safety consultant, accident prevention counselor, and regular speaker in aviation seminars. He founded and operated a jet pilot training and jet aircraft sales company. He has been a pilot and instructor for many celebrities as well as executives of several Fortune 500 companies.

  Dale has an MA in Theology and a PhD in Business with an emphasis in airline management and marketing. He is founder of Eagle International Ministries, where he has led scores of teams on short-term Christian missionary projects to over fifty countries since 1981.

  He is a regular speaker on topics regarding life after death, heaven, and Bible prophecy.

  Dale and his wife, Paula, own a real estate company. They are the parents of two grown children and live in Southern California.

  He can be contacted at [email protected] or by visiting .www.DaleBlack.org.

  You are invited to share the life-changing story and message of Flight to Heaven

  • Give this book as a gift. As you have discovered, not only will you be sharing a suspenseful real-life adventure, but friends and family member are sure to be impacted by the inspirational story and glorious glimpse of heaven.

  • Write a book review on your favorite Web sites or your own site or blog. Another idea is to suggest that your local newspaper or radio station do an interview or book review.

  • Reach out to those in need by providing copies of the book to places where people often need encouragement and inspiration (retirement homes, hospitals, jails and prisons, and anywhere an uplifting story is needed).

  • Encourage your church or organization to request the author as a speaker.

  • Consider setting up a personal book study, and invite your friends and neighbors to meet together and discuss the book.

  For more information and ideas, visit

  www.flighttoheaven.org

  1 Hollywood-Burbank Airport (BUR), mentioned repeatedly in this book, changed its name in 2003 to Bob Hope Airport.