Delta 15

 

 

  It is almost 11 yrs since 9/11 and here is a wonderful story about that
  terrible day.
 
 
  Jerry Brown Delta Flight 15... (true story)
 
  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,
  New Foundland.
 
 
    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, New Foundland, 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 MATCH 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
  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 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 God Bless the Canadians."

Thanks Win