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Des Plaines priest's surviving plane crash: 'A miracle from Our Lady of Guadalupe'

The director of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines said he believes a miracle saved his life and the lives of the other 102 people on the commercial jetliner that crashed in a field near the airport in Durango, Mexico.

"Do I consider this a miracle? Absolutely I have no doubt in my heart," the Very Rev. Esequiel Sanchez said in a conference call with the media Wednesday, a day after the crash of Aeromexico Flight 2431. "If the plane was any faster, it would have flipped. If the plane was any higher, the story would be different."

"I'm a priest who is serving at Our Lady of Guadalupe, and I certainly hope we hold miracles as part of daily life," he said from his hospital room in Durango. "It's extraordinary and I thank God every day for it. We didn't lose anyone and to me, that's the miracle. We didn't lose anyone and I thank God."

Sanchez went on to describe the circumstances of the crash a few hundred yards from the end of the runway.

"It felt like we did take off," he said. "The plane did actually get off the ground. Then, I think it might have been a microburst that pushed the airplane back down because the plane came down. The landing gear buckled under the airplane."

After the violent landing, with fire and smoke billowing from the plane, the passengers and crew members fled amid pouring rain, darkness and mud.

"As you can imagine, it's a pretty frightening moment," Sanchez said.

The Rev. Manuel Padilla, vice director of the Des Plaines shrine, said hardly any time passed between when he knew Sanchez was on the plane that had crashed and when he learned all aboard had survived.

"That can be a miracle," Padilla said. "We believe that God intervenes sometimes."

Sanchez called the shrine between 6 and 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Padilla said.

"Yesterday we heard about the accident, and yesterday he called us from the hospital telling us about his condition," Padilla said Wednesday morning. "He's in good condition."

What wasn't known Wednesday is when Sanchez could be expected to leave the hospital and return to Des Plaines. He was scheduled to have surgery for multiple fractures to his arm in the late afternoon.

Back home, visitors to the Des Plaines shrine who had heard about the crash expressed amazement and thanks for Sanchez's safety.

"I can believe it," said Bertha Tristan, 66, of Des Plaines, who has been visiting the shrine for more than 30 years and has known Sanchez since he was a seminary student. "It's a miracle because nobody died. To be alive, talking ... only God can do this, nobody else. It's incredible."

Sanchez had been celebrating his birthday with family and friends in the state of Durango, where his parents are originally from, and was on his way to Mexico City when the crash occurred.

Sanchez questioned whether the plane should have taken off at all.

The Very Rev. Esequiel Sanchez, third from left, is the director of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines and was one of the airline passengers who survived a crash near the airport in Durango, Mexico, Tuesday. Sanchez broke his arm in the crash. Associated Press

"When we started taxiing, I noticed it began to rain. I was in the front of the airplane; my seat was 1D," he said. "When the plane was about to begin its roll down the runway, I noticed the weather was far more strong. It began to rain and hail. I was wondering if the pilot was willing to call off the takeoff."

He said there were about 15 people from the Chicago area in his traveling party.

The Rev. Charlie Plovanich, vice rector of the shrine, offered thanksgiving for the salvation of Sanchez and the other passengers and crew during a regular Mass Wednesday.

Sara Mohan of Des Plaines said that though she frequently attends Mass at the shrine, she was there Wednesday especially to pray for Sanchez.

"He is very good to the community," she said. "I'm sure it's a miracle from Our Lady of Guadalupe ... strong intercession from mother Mary. (Usually) in a plane crash there are no survivors. ... Surely God intervened."

Of the 103 people on the plane, 49 required some hospitalization, according to a tweet by Durango Gov. Jose Aispuro. Some left the plane under their own power, he said.

Sanchez was born in Chicago and attended the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein. He was ordained into the priesthood in 1995 and had been pastor of St. Bede the Venerable Parish in Chicago before being named rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2016.

• Daily Herald staff writer Madhu Krishnamurthy contributed to this report.

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