HERE IS ANOTHER SIDE OF THE 9/11 TRAGIC STORY

[phkrause]

INTERESTING not sure how true but awesome if true

From a retired Delta Employee, written

by a flight attendant - a touching

story about one flight during

September 11th.

"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! 40 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 aircrafts.

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 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 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

laundromats 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, an MD from Virginia,

promised to match the donations

and to start the administrative work

on the scholarships. He also said

that he would forward this proposal

to Delta Corporate and ask them

to donate as well.

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 far away

place were kind to some strangers

who literally dropped in on them.

It reminds me how much good there

is in the world."

(This trust fund is now at more

than $1.5 million and has assisted

134 students in college education.)

[LifeHiscost]

As I recall, Stan is a Canadian. This contribution probably makes him very happy he was born where he was.

God blesses, Stan.

[Stan]

Newfoundlanders are a generous people. There are many stories like this. What many do not realize is that they were willing to put themselves at risk as their could have been a highjacked on board of many of the hundreds of planes that landed not only there, but all across the country as well.

At that time unemployment was high in Newfoundland. The fishing industry had crashed. Up to 80% if I recall correct in many of the towns and villages over the provinces.

High unemployment and low crime.

High alcoholism and low crime.

High depression and low crime.

Interesting community.

The RNC ( Police force) were not allowed to carry guns.

To be disciplined by an Office of the Law is an embarrassment.

To see your nighbours kids do something wrong, and if you do not address that, you are considered a bad neighbor.

We could use a lot more Newfoundlanders around the world.

[LynnDel]

I remember hearing on the news about the care given by Gander to the "plane people" at the time. An inspiring story!

LD

[phkrause]

Yes Stan, praise the Lord for communities like this.

[Neil D]

This is the America that I know....

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/embed/MDOrzF7B2Kg?rel=0

[LifeHiscost]

This is the America that I know....

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/embed/MDOrzF7B2Kg?rel=0

Thanks for that, Neil. Those who behave like those speaking on that film, won't lose their reward. It is but a reflection of that place where all will have that Spirit.

God blesses!

[phkrause]

This is the America that I know....

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/embed/MDOrzF7B2Kg?rel=0

Absolutely Neil, thanks for the link. I have seen this before, I'm wondering if it had been posted here on C/A?