Airline staff gave no explanation as to why the candles were being distributed to all passengers on-board – and moments later, the plane was hit with turbulence
A tourist was left terrified and praying for her life on a plane after staff handed passengers candles just before turbulence struck.
Jula Vadini, 27, was travelling from Bogotá to San José Del Guaviare, in Colombia, on Saturday, December 17, when she was suddenly woken by a flight attendant handing her a small ectronic candle. Airline staff gave no explanation to Ms Vadini or others on the plane as to why the candles were being distributed to all passengers on-board.
In a TikTok video documenting her 50-minute flight, Ms Vadani said: “I was very confused,”. The Polish content creator, who lives in the UK, joked “Are we dying?” in the the clip which has since garnered over 22,000 views.
Ms Vadani was then left praying for her life as the plane was struck with turbulence moments after she was given the candle. She told news.com.au: “The seatbelt sign went on and the pilot started giving security instructions in Spanish.”
Unable to translate the instructions, the traveller began to “panic” and “over-analyse all the noises”, convinced the plane was going down. Ms Valdini added: “I thought that the candle was given to us for good luck and to pray as we would probably crash. I started to pray!”
Despite a bumpy landing, the plane later touched down safely in San José Del Guaviare. Ms Vadini only figured out the significance of the candles after posting her TikTok video. She said: “I later realised that I was the only one on the flight who didn’t know about this candle tradition that happens on December 7. The candle wasn’t for us to pray before the crash but for us to make a wish. Obviously, I was completely unaware of this.”
December 7 marks ‘Little Candles Day’ or ‘Immaculate Conception Eve’ — a day to commemorate the immaculate conception of Jesus Christ. Lanterns and colourful candles are lit and placed on streets in the evening to signify a wish for the wellbeing of loved-ones.
“(It) turns out this is a Colombian tradition on December 7,” Ms Vadini wrote to her followers on Instagram. “One candle = one wish! How wholesome.”
