Eyewitness: Elder Ephraim miraculously prevented plane crash in 2017

Larnaca, Cyprus, January 25, 2021

Photo: YouTube

Speaking in the Church of St. Lazarus in Larnaca, Cyprus, earlier this month, Archimandrite Andreas (Aleme) shared his eyewitness testimony of a miracle of Elder Ephraim of Philotheou and Arizona that took place in October 2017.

As Fr. Andreas explains, he was on a flight from Larnaca to Haifa, Israel. About 10 minutes before landing, the plane began to experience difficulties, and the pilot passed out, though at one point he felt two warm hands on his, guiding the plane.

An icon of Elder Ephraim showing the miracle on the plane in the bottom-right corner. Photo: http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.com

When they had landed safely again, the pilot asked Fr. Andreas who the other priest was that had been sitting next to him, though Fr. Andreas had not seen any priest. When he showed the pilot a picture of Elder Ephraim, the pilot immediately recognized him as the elder who miraculously prevented the plane crash:

Watch a video of Fr. Andreas’ testimony, with English subtitles:

The archimandrite’s testimony confirms all the details of OrthoChristian’s report on the miracle from October 19, 2017. However, following the Cyprus Times newspaper, where the story originated in the press, OrthoChristian made the error of retracting the story. We were then told by many parishioners of St. Anthony’s Monastery in Arizona that the story was confirmed by the fathers of the monastery, and it is now confirmed by the personal eyewitness testimony of Archimandrite Andreas.

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1/25/2021

Comments

Enough is Enough4/4/2021 4:40 pm

There was the actual flight incident that occurred on October 10, 2017 that obviously served as the inspiration for the false miracle. The Archimandrite conflated this incident with the TUS AIR temporary turnabout incident on the same day to craft his story. Note how close “TUS” and “TUI” look in print——“TUI Airways Flight 1714 was en route from Newcastle, England, to Larnaca International Airport when several passengers reported seeing the pilot on the ground of the cockpit just 16 minutes into the journey. Due to the quick thinking of the flight crew and the co-pilot, the plane called for an emergency landing and touched down safely at Sofia Airport in Bulgaria. The pilot was transported to a local hospital for examination.” ———https://www.travelpulse.com/news/airlines/airline-pilot-collapses-mid-flight-in-europe.html —— Orthodox Teaching of the Elders, the group who hosts the false miracle story video on YouTube has blocked any attempts to post information about the Newcastle to Larnaca flight of October 10, 2017.

Proverbs 8:17 and 1Kings 2:302/9/2021 8:19 pm

“‘I love them that love me, and glorify them that glorify me,’ says the Lord of His saints.” - St. Silouan the Athonite.—Frankly, this public relations push for the glorification Elder Ephraim by his well meaning followers stinks of desperation.— The Lord Himself will glorify Elder Ephraim if He so wills it. — In the meantime, there is no sin in trusting in this promise in order to avoid the demonic snares of creating, accepting, and spreading false miracle stories. — “Falsehood - and only falsehood - separates us from God. False thoughts, false words, false feelings, false desires - Behold the aggregate of lies that leads us to non-being, illusion, and rejection of God.”- St. Nicholas of Serbia

Pilot’s name was Gustav2/5/2021 3:24 pm

A few clarifications:TUS AIR Flight#200 from Larnaca to Haifa, October 10, 2017. - Plane turned around after “initial climb” because of an oil pressure warning light (yellow warning light-not serious). - Connections to the sensors were cleaned. - Plane took off again and completed its scheduled flights. - No emergency. - No engine stopped. - No lights out. - Pilot’s name: Gustav, not “Panagiotis” - Gustav never passed out. - This information was taken from: Report #139 for TUSAIR Flight #200 Larnaca to Haifa, October 10, 2017—Just because you read something on the interwebs, it doesn’t make it true. Don’t believe me then please check out the facts yourself here: AAIIB official email: aaiib@mcw.gov.cy Website: www.aaiib.gov.cy. By the way, Orthodox Teaching of the Elders has a PDF of report #139 because I emailed it to them on February 4, 2021. It will be interesting to see what they do with it.

John2/4/2021 5:31 pm

I received an email response this morning from the Chairman (and Chief Investigator) of the Cyprus AAIIB with an attached report detailing the only TUS AIR incident for October 9-10, 2017. - On October 10, 2017 there was a flight going to from Larnaca to Haifa: Flight #200 - At the “initial take-off” the pilot (aka the “Commander”) noticed an oil pressure warning light signal (yellow) not red (serious) and immediately turned the plane around to land in order to have checked out. That’s it. Contrary to he miracle story that Archimandrite Andreas has been telling since October 2017 here are some facts: - The flight did not go as far as “10 minutes” from landing at Haifa. - It was not an emergency. - The engine never stopped. - The lights did not go out. - The pilot never fainted. - The pilot’s name was Gustav, not “Panagiotis.” Since OrthoChristian was brave enough to post a retraction of the false miracle story in October 2017, I would like to send them the report so that they can fact-check my post. They can email me if they want it.

Bloke John2/2/2021 5:25 pm

Apologies to the good people and investigators in Cyprus who are working to keep us all safe. Sorry for my previous typos. The correct name of their agency: Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation Board (AAIB) of the Department of Civil Aviation of the Republic of Cyprus.

The Bloke John2/2/2021 4:23 pm

John, I believe the editors of OrthoChristian have already applied the “chill pill” by cutting off my last post. I would have preferred to have been called “zealous” rather than OCD, but, you know “eye of the beholder” and all that. The editors could’ve deleted all of my previous posts and just posted my last one (which took the most effort) but it appears that OrthoChristian wants to preserve its relationship with its St. Anthony’s readership by not further promulgating what might be considered offensive material. In my last post I wanted to say again that fabricating false miracles to glorify Elder Ephraim will ultimately sow doubt about the Elder and damage his legacy. Lastly I had checked with Department of Civil Aviation of the Republic of Cyprus’ Airline Accident and Incident Investigation Board (AAID) about the incident described in the linked video. There is zero record of it. Since it is allowed to make psychological judgments on this site, then I would say that there is something very wrong with this Archimandrite who has totally fabricated this “miracle.” To what end? We’ll see. But OrthoChristian neither helps this poor soul nor burnishes the reputation of Elder Ephraim by promoting his lie.

John2/1/2021 11:28 pm

This John bloke seems a bit ''ocd'' someone needs to tell him to take a chill pilll already. Sheesh.

John1/30/2021 7:02 pm

In 2017 we were informed on OrthoChristian by an apparently well-connected pilgrim to St. Anthony’s: “Two of the Fathers at St. Anthony's who sleep next to the Elder and take care of him, heard the Elder shout loudly at night during his prayer rule: ‘Panayioti, Panayioti.’This was the night when the miracle occurred and Panayioti was the name of the pilate.” https://orthochristian.com/107561.html In Archimandrite Andreas’s 2021 video, he tells that the Fathers of St. Anthony’s told him that Geronda Ephrain left the Compline service (Apodeipnon “after supper”) for a “half-hour” to perform the miracle. After over three years, why has the story changed?

John1/30/2021 1:06 am

m. Cornelia, In February 2018 the Jerusalem Patriarchate aanounced: “ It decided that Archimandrite Andrew Aleme will minister at the Greek Orthodox Arab-speaking Community of Birzet town near Ramalla, on a trial basis.” https://en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/blog/2018/02/22/decisions-of-the-holy-and-sacred-synod-of-the-jerusalem-patriarchate-on-thursday-february-9-22-2018/?print=print Did the Archimandrite make it pass this trial period(2018)? Where is he serving now and how might one get in touch with him?

John1/28/2021 2:55 pm

“We contacted the airline TUS AIR, to find out if there was any incident (aircraft failure, pilot illness, return to the departure airport, etc.), the specific date on which the ‘miracle’ took place. The company's response was no. There has been a relevant refutation since October 18 [2017].” https://www.ellinikahoaxes.gr/2017/10/19/elder-efrem-miracle-hoax/

John1/27/2021 5:20 pm

Jesse - About contacting Archimandrite Andreas. To be frank, given what I have posted about his false-miracle account, I’m a little creeped out by him. I can think of reasons why someone would make up a story like this, but due to my nature, none of them are good. Besides, I don’t need a conversation. just a flight number. I’ll look it up, contact the proper authorities. If the 2017 story checks out, I will gladly share my findings here and beg forgiveness.

John1/27/2021 5:06 pm

Jesse, I am truly sorry, but the Fathers at St. Anthony’s are mistaken. I’m pretty sure that they have never made claims to infallibility. I shared my small miracle with Elder Ephraim with you because I have the actual, physical proof of it literally hanging over my head every day. Archimandrite Andreas has none. Since 2017 he has presented no proof and according to the video he has changed the date and omitted the name of the airline. His story has changed. Orthodox Teaching of the Elders has contacted me and said that since he did not mention TUS Airways in the video, he may have been speaking about a 2017 flight aboard a different aircraft, e.g. a private/charter. If this is true, then his story is different from the one from the one reported in 2017. This an OTHER story, a different miracle. If so, then OrthoChristian and the Cyprus Times were right to retract the story in 2017. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, but Archimandrite Andreas has a much lower bar to give us all the proof we need: just a simple flight number would suffice. Going on tape and omitting details from the reports of 2017 is not exactly compelling evidence - at least not to me. I understand that as Orthodox Christians in the world, we must walk by faith and not by sight, and that readers here want to “do obedience” and revere their Geronda/Staretz but we have remember that Our Lord Jesus Christ said that we should be “wise as serpents and as innocent as doves.” Especially in these evil days.

Jesse 1/26/2021 11:15 pm

Don't know what to tell you, John, but this story has been confirmed by the monks of St. Anthony's and other of Geronda's monasteries. And hte monks don't just blindly accept every story - there are some they will tell you are false. And here we also have an archimandrite willing to go on record about it. If you'd like to contact Archimandrite Andreas about it, we'd love to hear how the conversation goes.

John 1/26/2021 10:04 pm

In 2017, I and others were accused of defaming Elder Ephraim by the debunking of TUS Airways” miracle like I had some kind of agenda against him. Those who honor the reposed Elder should be vigilant against those who would invite scandal on his memory. I would like to share part of the story about my family’s first meeting with Elder Ephraim. First, a little background. Before our trip to Arizona we did a little housecleaning. We had removed a painting that was over our mantel. My wife and I tried to decide on an icon as a replacement but didn’t come to an agreement. Fast-forward to Arizona: Geronda Ephraim met with all of us together as a family. He prayed and blessed each of us individually. As we were leaving he stopped us and called his cell attendant over. They talked with the Elder making hand motions at the wall. To our astonishment the cell attendant took an icon of the Panagia/Bogoroditsa off the wall and thrust into my hands then pushed us all out quickly as there was a long line of pilgrims waiting. We stood outside of Geronda’s cell in shock and tears. This Icon of the Panagia is still hangs over our mantel. “ Not to keep the secret of a king is perilous and a terrible risk, but to be silent about the works of God is a great loss for the soul.”

John1/26/2021 8:44 pm

https://archive.fo/Dsc3S Διευκρινίσεις σχετικά με δημοσίευμα ημερομηνίας 16 Οκτωβρίου 13:24 - 18.10.2017 Η Cyprus Times επιθυμεί να προβεί σε διευκρινίσεις σχετικά με άρθρο που αναρτήθηκε ημερομηνίας 16 Οκτωβρίου με τίτλο «Μαρτυρία ότι ο Γέροντας Εφραίμ έσωσε αεροπλάνο με μηχανικό πρόβλημα», αναφέροντας ότι επρόκειτο για εσφαλμένη δημοσίευση. Ως εκ τούτου εκφράζονται οι απολογίες μας για οποιαδήποτε ενόχληση ενδεχομένως να προξένησε και διευκρινίζεται ότι ούδεν πρόβλημα προέκυψε με την πτήση της εταιρίας TUS-AIR από Κύπρο προς Ισραήλ. The Cyprus Times wishes to clarify an article published on October 16 entitled "Testimony that Elder Ephraim saved a plane with a mechanical problem", stating that it was a wrong publication. Therefore, our apologies are expressed for any inconvenience that may have been caused and it is clarified that no problem arose with the flight of TUS-AIR from Cyprus to Israel.

John1/26/2021 8:25 pm

Neither the 2017 story nor this 2021 video mention a co-pilot. What was the co-pilot doing while the an engine failed, electrical systems were disrupted and an unconscious pilot was at the controls of the plane? Co-pilots fly when the pilot is unable. On this face value alone the miracle story falls flat. I’ll do us all a favor. Just give me a flight number (if I missed it earlier) for the miracle in question and I’ll look it up. Easy peasy.

John1/26/2021 8:07 pm

I have nothing against miracles, only against false miracles. In this age on information, we can fact-check these kind of stories quite easily. In 2017, those of us who debunked the story on this site (especially “Georgia” who contacted TUS Airways) were accused of dishonoring Elder Ephraim. I argued then and now, that it is the false-miracle pushers who are dishonoring Elder Ephraim. Here is the thinking: “If this miracle story that they are pushing is false, what other miracle stories about him are false?” If this story is false, then why shouldn’t anyone be suspicious of the purveyors of the story? Fact checking: The Cyprus Times retracted its false miracle reporting - the very incident that Archimandrite Andreas Aleme claims to have been a party to: https://archive.fo/Dsc3S Ellinika Hoaxes also debunked the story https://www.ellinikahoaxes.gr/2017/10/19/elder-efrem-miracle-hoax/ TUS Airways flights from Larnaca to Haifa on October 9, 2017 (the first reported date of the alleged miracle) and October 10, 2017 (date reported on this video. Note: date change) both landed in Haifa. https://www.flightera.net/en/flight/Tus+Airways-Larnaca-Haifa/U8202/Oct-2017#flight_list There is zero evidence of any mechanical failure (e.g. engine failure reported in October 2017) for TUS Airways in October 2017 https://aviation-safety.net/database/dblist.php?Year=2017 Why is this story resurfacing now after having been debunked? OTOE and OrthoChristian invite scorn and scandal on the memory of Elder Ephraim by posting this false and self-aggrandizing video. Diakrisis, diakrisis, toujours the diakrisis!

m. Cornelia1/26/2021 1:14 pm

John, the article you cited is from 2017. However in 2018, Archimandrite Andrew Aleme is mentioned in an official capacity as the Hegoumen of the Greek Orthodox Community of the town of Bizreit. So, he was apparently reinstalled as a priest of the Jerusalem Patriarchate: https://en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/blog/2018/04/28/his-beatitude-awards-the-mayor-of-town-birzeit/. Not sure what you have against this miracle that you are so bent on making this priest look bad.

John1/26/2021 5:13 am

Isn’t strange that this Archimandrite claims to have experienced this miracle less than two weeks after his dismissal from the Jerusalem Patriarchate? ANNOUNCEMENT OF JERUSALEM PATRIARCHATE ANNOUNCEMENTS 20/10/2017 We would like to make the brotherly Orthodox Churches aware that Archimandrite Andrew Aleme, born in Nazareth, has received his official dismissal from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and does not belong to it any more. From Secretariat-General https://en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/blog/2017/10/20/announcement-of-jerusalem-patriarchate/

Nicole1/26/2021 12:56 am

Glory to God! And no surprise. Thank you for being careful about a story and authenticating (strongly)!

Eyewitness: Elder Ephraim miraculously prevented plane crash in 2017

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