This is not political, it is
a
little-known story about 9-11 and Canada.
Here is an amazing story
from a
flight attendant on Delta Flight 15, written following 9-11-2001
=======================================================================
"On the morning of Tuesday,
September 11, we were about 5 hours out of Frankfurt, flying over the
North
Atlantic. All of a sudden the curtains parted and I was told to go to the
cockpit, immediately, to see the captain. As soon as I got there I noticed
that the crew had that "All Business" look on their faces. The captain
handed
me a printed message. It was from Delta's main office in Atlanta and
simply
read, "All airways over the Continental United States are closed to
commercial
air traffic. Land ASAP at the nearest airport. Advise your destination."
"No one said a word about
what
this could mean. We knew it was a serious situation and we needed to find
terra firma quickly. The captain determined that the nearest airport was
400
miles behind us in Gander, Newfoundland. He requested approval for a route
change from the Canadian traffic controller and approval was granted
immediately--no questions asked. We found out later, of course, why there
was
no hesitation in approving our request.
"While the flight crew
prepared
the airplane for landing, another message arrived from Atlanta telling us
about some terrorist activity in the New York area. A few minutes later
word
came in about the hijackings.
"We decided to LIE to the
passengers while we were still in the air. We told them the plane had a
simple
instrument problem and that we needed to land at the nearest airport in
Gander, Newfoundland to have it checked out.
"We promised to give more
information after landing in Gander. There was much grumbling among the
passengers, but that's nothing new! Forty minutes later, we landed in
Gander.
Local time at Gander was 12:30 PM! .... that's 11:00 AM EST.
"There were already about 20
other airplanes on the ground from all over the world that had taken this
detour on their way to the U. S. 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.
The
reality is that we are here for another reason." Then he went on to
explain
the little bit we knew about the situation in the U. S. There were loud
gasps
and stares of disbelief. The captain informed passengers that Ground
control
in Gander told us to stay put.
"The Canadian Government was
in
charge of our situation and no one was allowed to get off the aircraft. No
one
on the ground was allowed to come near any of the aircrafts. Only airport
police would come around periodically, look us over and go on to the next
airplane. In the next hour or so more planes landed and Gander ended up
with
53 airplanes from all over the world, 27 of which were U. S. commercial
jets.
"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 a 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 U. S. were either blocked or jammed.
"Sometime 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. By now the passengers
were
emotionally and physically exhausted, not to mention frightened, but
everyone
stayed amazingly calm. We had only to look out the window at the 52 other
stranded aircraft to realize that we were not the only ones in this
predicament.
"We had been told earlier
that
they would be allowing people off the planes one plane at a time. At 6 PM,
Gander airport told us that our turn to deplane would be 11 am the next
morning. Passengers were not happy, but they simply resigned themselves to
this news without much noise and started to prepare themselves to spend
the
night on the airplane.
"Gander had promised us
medical
attention, if needed, water, and lavatory servicing. And they were true to
their word. Fortunately we had no medical situations to worry about. We
did
have a young lady who was 33 weeks into her pregnancy. We took REALLY good
care of her. The night passed without incident despite the uncomfortable
sleeping arrangements.
"About 10:30 on the morning
of
the 12th a convoy of school buses showed up. We got off the plane and were
taken to the terminal where we went through Immigration and Customs and
then
had to register with the Red Cross.
"After that we (the crew)
were
separated from the passengers and were taken in vans to a small hotel. We
had
no idea where our passengers were going. We learned from the Red Cross
that
the town of Gander has a population of 10,400 people and they had about
10,500
passengers to take care of from all the airplanes that were forced into
Gander! We were told to just relax at the hotel and we would be contacted
when
the U. S. airports opened again, 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 had lots of
time
on our hands and found that the people of Gander were extremely friendly.
They
started calling us the "plane people." We enjoyed their hospitality,
explored
the town of Gander and ended up having a pretty good time.
"Two days later, we got that
call and were taken back to the Gander airport. Back on the plane, we were
reunited with the passengers and found out what they had been doing for
the
past two days. What we found out was incredible.
"Gander and all the
surrounding
communities (within about a 75 Kilometer radius) had closed all high
schools,
meeting halls, lodges, and any other large gathering places. They
converted
all these facilities to mass lodging areas for all the stranded travelers.
Some had cots set up, some had mats with sleeping bags and pillows set up.
"ALL the high school
students
were required to volunteer their time to take care of the "guests." Our
218
passengers ended up in a town called Lewisporte, about 45 kilometers from
Gander where they were put up in a high school. If any women wanted to be
in a
women-only facility, that was arranged. Families were kept together. All
the
elderly passengers were taken to private homes.
"Remember that young
pregnant
lady? She was put up in a private home right across the street from a
24-hour
Urgent Care facility. There was a dentist on call and both male and female
nurses remained with the crowd for the duration.
"Phone calls and e-mails to
the
U. S. and around the world were available to everyone once a day. During
the
day, passengers were offered "Excursion" trips. Some people went on boat
cruises of the lakes and harbors. Some went for hikes in 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 schools. People were
driven
to restaurants of their choice and offered wonderful meals. Everyone was
given
tokens for local laundry mats to wash their clothes, since luggage was
still
on the aircraft. In other words, every single need was met for those
stranded
travelers.
"Passengers were crying
while
telling us these stories. Finally, when they were told that U. S. airports
had
reopened, they were delivered to the airport right on time and without a
single passenger missing or late. The local Red Cross had all the
information
about the whereabouts of each and every passenger and knew which plane
they
needed to be on and when all the planes were leaving. They coordinated
everything beautifully. It was absolutely incredible.
"When passengers came on
board,
it was like they had been on a cruise. Everyone knew each other by name.
They
were swapping stories of their stay, impressing each other with who had
the
better time. Our flight back to Atlanta looked like a chartered party
flight.
The crew just stayed out of their way. It was mind-boggling. Passengers
had
totally bonded and were calling each other by their first names,
exchanging
phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses.
"And then a very unusual
thing
happened. One of our passengers approached me and asked if he could make
an
announcement over the PA system. We never, ever allow that. But this time
was
different. I said "of course" and handed him the mike. He 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 continued by saying that he would like to do something in
return
for the good folks 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 college scholarships for the high school
students of Lewisporte. He asked for donations of any amount from his
fellow
travelers. When the paper with donations got back to us with the amounts,
names, phone numbers and addresses, the total was for more than $14,000
"The
gentleman, a MD from Virginia, promised to match the donations and to
start
the administrative work on the scholarship. He also said that he would
forward
this proposal to Delta Corporate and ask them to donate as well. As I
write
this account, the trust fund is at more than $1.5 million and has assisted
134
students in college education.
"I just wanted to share this
story because we need good stories right now. It gives me a little bit of
hope
to know that some people in a far away place were kind to some strangers
who
literally dropped in on them. It reminds me how much good there is in the
world."
"In spite of all the rotten
things we see going on in today’s world this story confirms that there are
still a lot of good and Godly people in the world and when things get bad,
they will come forward.
"God Bless America... and
the
Canadians."
