“There are no atheists on a sinking ship” — this is an old and well-known saying. It is natural for a troubled human being to call out to Allah, and even the strongest of atheists turn to Allah when they are faced with adversity.
As Allah says in The Quran 31:32,
And when waves come over them like canopies, they invoke Allah, sincere to Him in religion. But when He delivers them to the land, there are (some) of them who are moderate (in faith). And none rejects Our signs except everyone treacherous and ungrateful.
This recent video by Think Islam captures the essence of the above idea really well. When faced with turbulence in an aeroplane, the atheist calls out to Allah, but the minute everything gets back to normal, the state of denial kicks in.
Also, the plane’s number too bears reference to a Quranic ayah.
