Incredible Hospitality

Delta Airline Stewardess

[estrogen]

This is touching.... ********** If you wondered about all those flights that were in the middle of the great blue Atlantic Ocean on the morning of September 11th, here is an up-close-and-personal story written by a Delta Airlines flight attendant enroute from Frankfurt to Atlanta. This was the first accounting that I had read of one of the diverted flights to Canada. I found it both compelling and inspiring. And the question the writer poses at the end is a good one:

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, advise your destination."

Now, when a dispatcher tells you to land immediately without suggesting which airport, one can assume that the dispatcher has reluctantly given up control of the flight to the captain. We knew it was a serious situation and we needed to find terra firma quickly. It was quickly decided that the nearest airport was 400 miles away, behind our right shoulder, in Gander, on the island of New Foundland. A quick request was made to the Canadian traffic controller and a right turn, directly to Gander, was approved immediately. We found out later why there was no hesitation by the Canadian controller ap proving our request. We, the in-flight crew, were told to get the airplane ready for an immediate landing. While this was going on another message arrived from Atlanta telling us about some terrorist activity in the New York area.

We briefed the in-flight 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 is 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 p.m. (11:00 a.m. 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. Only a car from the airport police 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 US flags. We were told that each and every plane was to be off loaded, one at a time, with the foreign carriers given the priority. We were No.14 in the US category. We were further told that we would be given a tentative time to deplane at 6p.m.

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 US were either blocked or jammed and to try again. 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. Now the passengers were totally bewildered and emotionally exhausted but stayed calm as we kept reminding them to look around to see that we were not the only ones in this predicament.

There were 52 other planes with people on them in the same situation. We also told them that the Canadian Government was in charge and we were at their mercy. True to their word, at 6 p.m., Gander airport told us that our turn to deplane would come at 11 a.m., the next morning. That took the last wind out of the passengers and they simply resigned and accepted this news without much noise and really started to get into a mode of spending the night on the airplane.

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 isolated 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. 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 going around town discovering things and enjoying the hospitality. The people were so friendly and they just knew that we were the "Plane People". We all had a great time until we got that call, 2 days later, on the 14th at 7 a.m. We made it to the airport by 8:30 a.m. and left for Atlanta at 12:30 p.m. arriving in Atlanta at about 4:30 p.m.. (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 to volunteer taking 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 any women wanted to be in a women-only facility, that was arranged. Families were kept together. All the elderly passengers were given no choice and 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 type facility. There were DDS 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 everyone once a day. During the days the passengers were given a choice of "Excursion" trips. Some people went on boat cruises of 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. Absolutely incredible.

When passengers came on board, it was like they had been on a cruise. Everybody knew everybody else by their 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 addresses.

And then a strange thing happened. One of our business class passengers approached me and asked if he could speak over the PA to his fellow passengers. We never, never, allow that. 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 a scholarship for high school student(s) of Lewisporte to help them go to college. 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, it totaled to $14.5K or about $20K Canadian. The gentleman who started all this turned out to be an MD from Virginia. He 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.

Why, all of this? Just because some people in far away places were kind to some strangers, who happened to literally drop in among them? WHY NOT? --------------------------------------- Thanks , Judith Peters

[estrogen]

this story warms my heart

[Alberta's Child]

Canadians have a bizarre outlook on politics, but when push comes to shove they are among the most generous human beings you'll ever meet.

[Free the USA]

Bump

[nd76]

Judith Peters sounds like one of the hundreds of absolutely fantastic Delta stews I have encountered in over 20 years of flying on their airline. Proud to be a Delta flyer, proud of my 1,000,000 miler status on Delta.

[estrogen]

bump

[Think free or die]

This story just brought tears to my eyes. My family vacationed in Canada every summer of my childhood. Canadians are just lovely people.

[deport]

An interesting story.........

[slym]

I like flying Delta a lot... Good luck to them in this uncertain time for airlines and good luck to the scholarship organizers... May I suggest 2 scholarships as the fund is quite large and attending a Canadian university id a lot less costly than going to a similar American one.

What a great story! I lived in Canada many years ago and came to love it. This post has made my day!

[Always A Marine]

Delta Stewardess

Be careful with that "Stewardess" word. Today's flight attendants are not mere waitresses, but are really very important people. They don't like it when you call them stewardesses." In fact, they don't like it when you call them...

[estrogen]

Sorry if I was unPC.....when I was growing up we called them stewardesses.

[freedom9]

Sometimes difficult situations brings out the good in people or just shows others the good that is always there.

Bump . . .

[DoughtyOne]

Great post. If only the best people of each culture would receive this type of attention, the world would be a far better place.

That fact is, only the worst of human nature is exposed through the media on a regular basis. It's amazing that there are as many good people as there are.

[oldngray]

Most of my relatives on my father's side live in Newfoundland. This is typical. So pleased to see it posted here. Have been there, seen and enjoyed the wonderful country and people. As everywhere they have their "strange" customs and others refer to them as "Neufies". Tell an ethnic joke and one can substitute "Neufy" for "Pole", "Blonde" or anything else and it would come out the same. They laugh at themselves.

The first time I visited there I asked my cousin's husband what they did during the summer. He said that the prior year he thought it came on a Tuesday and they had gone to the Mall shopping so they missed it.

[southernnorthcarolina]

Nice story. Prior to the jetliner era (prior to my time, as well, I hasten to add), Gander was a regular stop for Transatlantic flights. The DC3s of the 1930s and 40s, and the DC6s, Electras, and Constellations of the 1950s and 60s didn't have the range to make it nonstop from New York to London or Paris. Or even if they did in the late years of the prop era, duration for crew and passengers was an issue; it takes 7 hours or so, even with today's jets.

This incident, even borne as it was on an horrific event, must have brought back some good memories to the older residents of Gander, which, just for a few decades, was an international aviation hub.

[Newfy]

As a Newf myself, I can vouch for the hospitality of Newfoundlanders when it comes to people in distress and emergency situations. Nfld being an island they are used to coping with disasters and survivors but usually they are sea-related. Made me proud to read this and I thank whoever took the time to post it.

[Verginius Rufus]

Thanks for posting this.

There is a memorial a short distance from the Gander airport honoring the 256 people killed in a plane crash on Dec. 12, 1985, including 248 members of the U.S. 101st Airborne who were returning from duty in the Middle East. I hope some of the Delta passengers had the opportunity to visit the memorial.

[McGavin999]

HA! Newfy's are my favorite people. I spent about 4 years working up in Canada and for some strange reason, the Maritime people are exactly like the western Canadians, warm, funny, hospitable and honest.

[Howlin]

Did you know that these people who were stranded in Canada and NF have put up whole web sites telling their stories of their time there? Complete with pictures! I found them off one of those urban legend pages! It was amazing to me because I had no clue what they had been through while we were all glued to the TV down here. Actually, I never even gave it a thought.

The web sites have wonderful stories and great pictures; it sounds like the whole country came out to take care of stranded passengers! And they are using the web sites to keep in touch with each other.

[deport]

Yes we were sitting here awe struck . I know I never gave it a thought about what was happening with the planes that were diverted from overseas incoming flights.... I'm glad they were taken care of as good as it seems they were.

[LarryLied]

There is a sad update to this story. From this week's Gander Beacon:

Gander International Airport to see cut in air service

By JANICE HENSTRIDGE, The Beacon

Gander International Airport will see a loss in service as a result of cuts to Air Nova's fall schedule due to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

There will now be no flights from Deer Lake to Gander, and flights from Gander to Halifax will be serviced via St. John's or Stephenville.

To compensate for the loss, a new daily Dash 8 service will be added from Gander via Stephenville into Halifax. The number of daily Beech 1900 flights from Gander to St. John's will also be increased from five to six.

"We're certainly going to lose a substantial amount of revenue," said Gary Vey, CEO and president of the Gander International Airport Authority Inc. "Hopefully not the amount we had earlier anticipated, but it's going to depend on how many folks use the service from here to St. John's because Air Nova is attempting to put people through St. John's rather than provide a direct link to Halifax and beyond."

While it is still uncertain as the exact amount of revenue that will be lost by the airport, Mr. Vey said there will be a direct hit in landing fees in the range of a quarter million dollars. . .

A substantial hit for a town of 10,000. A long article, dated Sept 17-23, from the Gander Beacon detailing the help the residents gave passagers is here:

Gander sees influx of 6,500

Thirty-seven diverted planes lined the runways of Gander International Airport after terrorist attacks in the U.S., leaving the region to aid about 6,500 stranded passengers. Courtesy of 103 Search and Rescue. . . continued here