Praying for Plane Crash Miracles

There were two major plane crashes over the Hudson River between New York City & New Jersey this past year. The first involved a plane that ended up landing in the river and had no fatalities and only minor injuries. It was widely hailed as a miracle, with lots of references to a deity (often referred to as ‘God’) intervening in the laws of physics (the definition of ‘miracle’) to land the plane safely and spare everyone’s lives. Later in the year a small plane and a helicopter collided, crashed, burned and everyone inside died; over virtually the same stretch of river. It always makes me wonder why all the people who give a deity credit for saving all those people’s lives in the first incident are loath to blame the said deity for killing all the people in the second incident. Maybe the people in the plane-helicopter collision didn’t have time to get in a quick prayer.
This to me highlights the problem with miracles, prayer and the like. We always remember when events line up with what we prayed for, viewing that as “proof” that prayers are effective, are answered, etc. Why is it that we don’t put as much emphasis on the times when things don’t line up with what we prayed for? There are a variety of theories as to why lack of results happen: It wasn’t God’s will, you’re the wrong religion, you prayed for the wrong thing, God works in mysterious ways, God gives you what you need, not what you want (on that last one, why pray then?). Some religions or philosophies put the blame squarely on the one praying, some put it on God’s shoulders, but it seems that few just throw up their hands and conclude that prayer just doesn’t work, or doesn’t work often enough to make a difference. Another thing that figures in is what’s called ‘confirmation bias’. People naturally look for or notice those things that confirm their previously held beliefs and ignore or minimize those events that contradict those beliefs. Me? I’m praying that there is enough space in this box to say everything that I want to say.