Cavman
Active member
A friend who is retired from Delta Airline sent this story to me and I thought it was worth sharing with y'all.
Delta Flight 15 on 9/11
**Take a moment and read this story, you will be amazed....* *
*It is 12 years since 9/11 and here is a wonderful story about that terrible day. *
*Delta Flight 15... (true story) *
http://www.snopes.com/rumors/gander.asp
*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 TradeCenter 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 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 people *
*in the world and when things get bad, they will come forward. *
**This is one of those stories that need to be shared. Please do so...*
Delta Flight 15 on 9/11
**Take a moment and read this story, you will be amazed....* *
*It is 12 years since 9/11 and here is a wonderful story about that terrible day. *
*Delta Flight 15... (true story) *
http://www.snopes.com/rumors/gander.asp
*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 TradeCenter 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 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 people *
*in the world and when things get bad, they will come forward. *
**This is one of those stories that need to be shared. Please do so...*
