In memory of 9/11 (Sept. 11/2001) - you may rethink your flight delays

Such a nice story and since passengers said it was like being on a cruise at the end I hope you don't mind me sharing this (courtesy of solocanadian who is away)so I get the heat for posting. It's a bit of a long but worth it. I hope you don't mind me posting it and hope you will enjoy the read. I thought a hear warming story that is true was appropriate now more than ever.

here you go:

It is almost 12 yrs since 9/11 and here is a wonderful story about that terrible day. Jerry Brown Delta Flight 15. Here is an amazing story from a flight attendant on Delta Flight 15, written following 9-11:

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

o 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 air crafts. 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 MATCHut 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 faraway 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 todays 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 God Bless the Canadians."

Thanks for posting this, Kazu.

And especially thank you to our wonderful neighbors to the north.

What a remarkable thing they did for thousands of strangers.

We are fortunate to have such neighbors. :)

These years later,,,,,

Thank you for the good people of Gander, Newfoundland and all Canada.

apologies - I thought I fixed it so it would post nicely and somehow I hit post instead of preview post - I ran out of time to edit it to make it easier to read:o

Jacqui, thank you for posting this amazing story. It's wonderful to read how generous people can be in times of crisis. Those people bonded together because of their shared ordeal, and the people of Lewisport did an amazing job of taking care of Delta's passengers. In this crazy world we live in, it's heartwarming to know that there so many good people in the world.

Wow, Gander has quite a history. I was there twice, 1999 and 2000, not that long before 9/11. What I remember most about Gander was the "Silent Witness", a memorial to a troop aircraft that crashed on takeoff there after refueling in 1985. For such a small, off the beaten path town, Gander has quite a history. I know I heard many stories about the generosity of the people of Gander in the wake of 9/11, and of course they really hit home after my then recent visits there.

Roy

Thank you for sharing!

Wow, Gander has quite a history. I was there twice, 1999 and 2000, not that long before 9/11. What I remember most about Gander was the "Silent Witness", a memorial to a troop aircraft that crashed on takeoff there after refueling in 1985. For such a small, off the beaten path town, Gander has quite a history. I know I heard many stories about the generosity of the people of Gander in the wake of 9/11, and of course they really hit home after my then recent visits there.

 

Roy

Gander was not always so off the beaten path. It used to be where TransAtlantic flights would land to top off their tanks before setting off for Europe.

A lot of people will pass on the story of Gander so it has a chance of surviving. Compare that to the situation respecting the Iran hostage incident which, after all but disappearing from the US collective memory was refreshed by a travesty of a film advancing comic book style history more consistent with patriotic demand.

Canadians are grateful for US acknowledgment of our friendship and hospitality, but for myself and others, well - we will wait for the movie.;)

Thank you for sharing and thanks again to our wonderful neighbors to the north for their kindness. Tomorrow means the same and yet so many different things to so many people. Personally I'll actually be preparing to fly on Thursday to DC to join my wife and visit friends we met cruising on the Maasdam. We actually delayed my flight one day so that I wouldn't fly on Setember 11. As Pentagon survivors it just, even after 12 years, was not a place or time we wanted to go. To our lost friends....we will never forget.

"The Day The World Came to Town"by Jim Defede is a very heartwarming book that tells the story in detail. After I read it I gave it to an American friend.

Thank you for sharing this truly heartwarming story. It brought me to tears. This demonstrates the kindness of strangers.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

"The Day The World Came to Town"by Jim Defede is a very heartwarming book that tells the story in detail. After I read it I gave it to an American friend.

It is indeed - but it was too long to post here:p:D

What a truly amazing story! With such sadness associated with September 11, it is inspiring to hear such an uplifting account. Thank you for posting.

Thank you Jacqui!

Didn't notice any editing problems, just a terrific tale of wonderful neighbors.

Off to the bookstore tomorrow!

Cheers!

Our daughter is an air traffic controller in Gander, (she wasn't there for 9/11 - she was in Vancouver, which also had many, many planes "parked"). We have visited her a couple of times in Gander. The little aircraft museum in the town now has a piece of one of the towers - a "thank you", and also a book of letters from the people who stayed there. It's an interesting little museum.

Thanks for that heat warming story. I am close to tears. In light of what is going on now with Syria, we need to be reminded that good people are everywhere and that we are our Brother's keeper.

Thanks Canada! - Never Forget!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiH8kGQ5IaU

Thanks Canada! - Never Forget!!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiH8kGQ5IaU

 

thanks for the links. they are absolutely beautiful:D:D

Thank you Jacqui. That brought a huge lump to my throat and tears to my eyes, and made me proud to be Canadian. And it was so good to remember we are all together in this battle called life, both sides of the border.

We here in Canada will be thinking of our American friends tomorrow and standing with you in your remembrance of that terrible day in September that changed the world forever. We will also never forget.

Such a nice story and since passengers said it was like being on a cruise at the end I hope you don't mind me sharing this (courtesy of solocanadian who is away)so I get the heat for posting. It's a bit of a long but worth it. I hope you don't mind me posting it and hope you will enjoy the read. I thought a hear warming story that is true was appropriate now more than ever.

 

here you go:

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is almost 12 yrs since 9/11 and here is a wonderful story about that terrible day. Jerry Brown Delta Flight 15. Here is an amazing story from a flight attendant on Delta Flight 15, written following 9-11:

 

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

o 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 air crafts. 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 MATCHut 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 faraway 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 todays 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 God Bless the Canadians."

Thank you! This is a story I hadn't read before , thank the Canadians for their generous care of the Delta 15 passengers! and may WE NEVER forget those that lost their lives on that September day!!

It is indeed - but it was too long to post here:p:D

It was indeed! :)

Thank you kazu (and solocanadian) for sharing.

Kazu - thank you so much for sharing this story and for Solocanadian for sending it to you. I had read it before but it never gets old; to read about the goodness in people. It renews faith that out of such horror and hatred that some good kindness is shared.

We all, as human beings will never/should never forget these events in history that shape who we are.

I look forward to viewing Copper 10-8's links when I get home (YouTube is banned from our office computers).

Thanks again for pressing the "post" button.

Thanks for the great story. And they have the book for my Nook so I will be ordering it later today.

Good story.......and the last sentence is so true:

God Bless America and God Bless the Canadians!!