 Coping
with the 9.11.01 Aftermath
Accounts of Survivors
Story of Delta Flight 15 in Gander on September 11th
By Anonymous Author
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 approving our request. We, the inflight
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 pm. (11:00 AM 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 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 offloaded, 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 6 pm.
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 PM, Gander
airport told us that our turn to deplane would come at 11 AM, 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 7AM. We made it to the airport by 8:30AM and left for
Atlanta at 12:30 PM arriving in Atlanta at about 4:30PM. (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 every one 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?
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