About Flight to Heaven - INTRODUCTION

by Paula Black

 Flight to Heaven is a book about the truly amazing story of Dale Black, my husband, and the only survivor of a horrific airplane crash. The accident was so catastrophic that it was classified by the FAA as non-survivable. Just after taking off, the airplane slammed into the top of a 75 foot tall, 50 foot wide Aviation Memorial. The aircraft disintegrated. The three pilots collided with the solid concrete and marble structure at 135 mph, then free fell 70 feet to the ground.

As Dale hovered between life and death he was ushered into heaven by two angelic escorts. What he learned and experienced there will cause you to rethink your concepts of this life - and the afterlife - forever.

Dale and I met at college in Pasadena, California almost two years after the crash. My dorm mate had a crush on him and he 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, while still in a wheelchair.

Dale was an enigma. On one hand 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 is 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 40 years we’ve ministered side by side. I know him extremely well and I love and respect him. Dale tells me I’m the only one that really understands him.

Throughout the years Dale had told me several times that he had had an “out of body” experience following the crash. When I probed for more details, however, he became evasive and uncomfortable. I was suspect that 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 was that shortly after the crash, Dale had made a vow to God that he would not share about his journey to heaven with anyone other than his grandfather unless God clearly instructed him to. And when Dale makes a vow, he is unbendable and it is for life. He told his grandfather about his heavenly journey immediately after his memory returned but gramps cautioned him about telling others. He said, “Dale, if your experience is sacred, why not keep the story to yourself? Instead of telling others about it, why not live your life in a way that reflects your journey to heaven. Live what you believe you saw. Live what you believe you heard and learned. Dale, your life’s actions will speak louder than your words.”

Dale made a solemn vow to himself and to God not to share this experience with anyone until God made it clear to do so. He figured he might keep the secret for a year or two. But it would take forty years for Dale to be convinced that it was God’s time to share his experience publicly.

A few years ago while Dale was working on writing this book, we were discussing the moments immediately following the crash. I began to ask pin-point, probing questions about what he remembered. He was quiet. I asked more questions. He got up and walked around the room. I gently prodded. I pressed harder. Suddenly he stood still and silent for several minutes. Then in the greatest emotional outburst I’d ever seen from my husband, he let it spill out. He finally revealed to me what I had suspected all along. Yes, Dale had visited heaven after all.

As Dale recounted his amazing journey, he continued pacing the floor. I grabbed a pen and paper. He talked. He sobbed. 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 very sacred.

Dale answered each of my questions quickly but always with great 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 40 years.

For the next several days, hundreds of dots started to connect in my head, like light bulbs flashing in my mind. There have always been so many “odd” things about Dale, things that I have never understood. Almost no one else seemed to really understand him either.

Dale’s values and priorities completely changed after the airplane crash and is one of the reasons he is dramatically different from anyone I’ve ever known. He is sensitive to and strongly drawn toward relationships where there is unity and love at the core. But there are other things that have always been unusual about my husband. For example, Dale isn’t looking for facts, but the truth in each situation. He sees under the surface of things. Always. He studies the Bible from his heart rather than his head and knows it better than anyone else I’ve ever met. He has a powerful obsession toward certain types of music. He’s fascinated with light and the properties of light. He has a quest to understand order in science, but only in a quest to understand more about God. He’s fascinated with space and astronomy. And the list goes on and on. Without question Dale has been profoundly and permanently affected by his visit to heaven.

Now finally, after he verified that he had seen heaven, so many of the things I had thought were strange about my husband made complete sense to me. These “quirks” were, and still are, some of the “leftover effects” of his heavenly journey.

Being married to Dale has not been an easy road. One of the reasons for this is because at the center of Dale’s heart, is an incessant desire to please God –whatever the cost. And believe me, there have been countless dues that have been paid for this quest.

After much prayer Dale finally agreed to write of his heavenly journey, but only for immediate family. So for the next few days Dale sat down and wrote about his visit to heaven. At the time neither of us dreamed it would ever go beyond that. However, over the next many months, God clearly confirmed that it was time to share not only about his amazing survival and recovery but also about his journey to heaven and back.

You should know that this story is verifiable. There are medical records, witnesses and the permanent 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. It’s all there. 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.

Dale has had to work enormously harder than his peers due to the numerous physical limitations that still challenge him and serve as blessed reminders of his miraculous survival. He’s learned several creative “tricks” to compensate for his injuries. But, incredibly, Dale has flown approximately 17,000 hours as a pilot in a variety of two, three and four engine commercial jets, as well as a multitude of corporate jets and general aviation aircraft. He has won several awards and is respected by his colleagues as one of the best pilot instructors and safest professional aviators in the business.

Now lastly, before you read this amazing story, I’d like to give you some helpful advice. Try reading, not just with your mind, but read with a sensitive and open heart. Because if you do, I believe you’ll receive way more than you bargained for. You’re holding in your hands more than just another book… this is YOUR opportunity for a life-changing experience.

Now hold on.

You’re in for quite a ride.

Paula Black