Through
every trial and moment of pain, we must help one another.
Sometimes the hand of a stranger comes along which alleviates up our burden and
lifts up our
hearts. The following true story proclaims the
inherent goodness of the human race. When
all the airways in the continental US were
temporarily closed during the September 11, 2001
tragedy, the people in a small town pooled
together and did an extraordinary acts of
kindness to
the stranded passengers and
they are never, ever the same.
We
were about 5 hours out of Frankfurt flying over
the North Atlantic and I was in my crew rest
seat taking my scheduled rest break. All of a
sudden the curtains parted violently and I was
told to go to the cockpit, right now, to see the
captain.
As
soon as I got there I noticed that the crew had
one of those "All Business" looks on
their faces. The captain handed me a printed
message. I quickly read the message and realized
the importance of it. The message was from
Atlanta, addressed to our flight, and simply
said, "All airways over the
Continental US are closed. Land ASAP at the
nearest airport."
Now, when a dispatcher tells you to land
immediately without suggesting which airport,
one can only assume that the dispatcher has
reluctantly given up control of the flight. We
knew it was a serious situation and we needed to
find terra firma (solid ground) quickly. It was
decided that the nearest airport was 400 miles
away, behind our right shoulder, in Gander, on
the island of Newfoundland. A quick request was
made to the Canadian traffic controller and a
right turn, directly to Gander, was approved
immediately.
We, the in-flight crew, were told to get the
airplane ready for an immediate landing. While
the airplane was getting ready, another message arrived from Atlanta
telling us about some terrorist activity in the
New York area. We briefed the crew about going to Gander and we
went about our business 'closing down' the
airplane for a landing. A few minutes later
I went back to the cockpit to find out that some
airplanes had been hijacked and were being flown
into buildings all over the US.
We
decided to make an announcement and lie to the
passengers for the time being. We told them that
an instrument problem had arisen on the airplane
and that we needed to land at Gander, to have it
checked. We promised to give more information
after landing in Gander. There were many unhappy
passengers but that was par for the course. We
landed in Gander about 40 minutes after the
start of this episode. There were already about
20 other airplanes on the ground from all over
the world.
After
we parked on the ramp the captain made the
following announcement. "Ladies and
gentlemen, you must be wondering if all these
airplanes around us have the same instrument
problem as we have. But the reality is that we
are here for a good reason." Then he went
on to explain the little bit we knew about the
situation in the US. There were loud gasps and
stares of disbelief. Local time at Gander was
12:30 pm. (11:00 AM EST) Gander control told us
to stay put. No one was allowed to get off the
aircraft. No one on the ground was allowed to
come near the aircrafts.
There
was only one car from the airport police that
would come around once in a while, look us over
and go on to the next airplane.
In
the next hour or so all the airways over the
North Atlantic were vacated and Gander alone
ended up with 53 airplanes from all over the
world, out of which 27 were flying the US flag.
We were told that each and every plane was to be
offloaded, one at a time, with the foreign
carriers given priority. We were No.14 in the US
category. We were further told that at 6
pm, we would be given a tentative time that we
would exit our plane.
Meanwhile
bits of news started to come in over the
aircraft radio and for the first time we learned
that airplanes were flown into the World Trade
Center in New York and into the Pentagon in DC.
People were trying to use their cell phones but
were unable to connect due to different cell
system in Canada.
Some did get through but were
only able to get to the Canadian operator who
would tell them that the lines to the US were
either blocked or jammed and to try again later.
Some time late in the evening the news filtered
to us that the World Trade Center buildings had
collapsed, and that a fourth hijacking had
resulted in a crash.
True
to their word, at 6 PM, Gander airport told us
that our turn to deplane would come at 11 AM,
the next morning. Gander had promised us any and
all medical attention if needed; medicine,
water, and lavatory servicing. And they were
true to their word. Fortunately we had no
medical situation during the night.
We
did have a young lady who was 33 weeks into her
pregnancy. We took REALLY good care of her. The
night passed without any further complications
on our airplane despite the uncomfortable
sleeping arrangements. About 10:30 on the
morning of the 12th we were told to get ready to
leave the aircraft.
A convoy of school buses
showed up at the side of the airplane, the
stairway was hooked up and the passengers were
taken to the terminal for
"processing."
We, the crew, were taken to the same
terminal but were told to go to a different
section, where we were processed through
Immigration and customs and then had to register
with the Red Cross.
After
that we were separated from our passengers and
were taken in a caravan of vans to a very small
hotel in the town of Gander. We had no idea
where our passengers were going. The town of
Gander has a population of 10,400 people.
The
Red Cross told us that they were going to
process about 10,500 passengers from all the
airplanes that were forced into Gander. We were
told to just relax at the hotel and wait for a
call to go back to the airport, but not to
expect that call for a while. We found out the
total scope of the terror back home only after
getting to our hotel and turning on the TV, 24
hours after it all started.
Meanwhile
we enjoyed ourselves by going around town,
discovering things and enjoying the hospitality.
The people were so friendly and they just knew
us as the "Plane people". We were all
having a great time until we got that call, 2
days later, on the 14th at 7AM. We made it to
the airport by 8:30AM and left for Atlanta at
12:30 PM arriving in Atlanta at about 4:30PM.
(Gander is 1 hour and 30 minutes ahead of EST,
yes! 1 hour and 30 minutes.)
But that's not what
I wanted to tell you. What passengers told us
was so uplifting and incredible and the timing
couldn't have been better. We found out that
Gander and the surrounding small communities,
within a 75 Kilometer radius, had closed all the
high schools, meeting halls, lodges, and any
other large gathering places. They converted all
these facilities to a mass lodging area. Some
had cots set up, some had mats with sleeping
bags and pillows set up. All the high school
students had volunteered to take care of the
"GUESTS".
Our
218 passengers ended up in a town called
Lewisporte, about 45 Kilometers from Gander.
There, they were put in a high school. If there
was any woman wanted to be in a women only
facility, it was arranged. Families were kept
together. All the elderly passengers were taken
to private homes. And remember that young
pregnant lady; she was put up in a private home
right across the street from a 24 hour Urgent
Care type facility. There were doctors on call
and they had both male and female nurses
available and stayed with the crowd for the
duration.
Phone calls and emails to US and Europe were
available for every one once a day. During the
days the passengers were given a choice of
"Excursion" trips. Some people went on
boat cruises around the lakes and harbors. Some
went to see the local forests. Local bakeries
stayed open to make fresh bread for the guests.
Food was prepared by all the residents and
brought to the school for those who elected to
stay put.
Others were driven to the eatery of
their choice and fed. They were given tokens to
go to the local laundromat to wash their
clothes, since their luggage was still on the
aircraft. In other words every single need was
met for those unfortunate travelers.
Passengers were crying while telling us
these stories. After all that, they were
delivered to the airport right on time and
without a single one missing or late.
All
because the local Red Cross had all the
information about the goings on back at Gander
and knew which group needed to leave for the
airport at what time. It was absolutely
incredible! When passengers came on board, it
was like they had been on a cruise. Everybody
knew everybody else by his or her name.
They
were swapping stories of their stay, impressing
each other with who had the better time. It was
mind-boggling. Our flight back to Atlanta looked
like a party flight. We simply stayed out of
their way. The passengers had totally bonded and
they were calling each other by their first
names, exchanging phone numbers, addresses, and
email. One of our business class passengers
approached me and asked if he could speak over
the PA to his fellow passengers.
We’ve never
allowed that before. But something told me to
get out of his way. I said "of
course". The gentleman picked up the PA and
reminded everyone about what they had just gone
through in the last few days. He reminded them
of the hospitality they had received at the
hands of total strangers. He further stated that
he would like to do something in return for the
good folks of the town of Lewisporte. He said he
was going to set up a Trust Fund under the name
of Delta 15 (our flight number).
The purpose of
the trust fund is to provide scholarships for
the high school students of Lewisporte.
Donations were accepted from other passengers,
with the total coming to a very generous amount.
The gentleman who started all this had promised
to match the donations and would start the
administrative work on the scholarship.
He also
stated that he would forward this proposal to
Delta Corporate and ask them to donate as well. Why,
all of this? Just because some people in a far
away place were kind to some strangers, who
happened to literally drop in on them, out of
the clear blue sky. Why not?
Isn't
this what life is all about? Big thanks to our
neighbors in the North for extending a helping
hand!!!
Now
playing: Angels On HIgh
Some
people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and
leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same.
~Anonymous~
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Tim
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