Delta Flight 15, a true story about 9-11 



Delta Flight 15 

This is not political. It is a little-known true story about 9-11 and a good read. This read will make you 
proud of the vast majority of humanity. Here is an amazing story from a flight attendant on Delta Flight 
15, written following 9-11-2001. 

"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 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. Moreover, 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 Kilometre 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 kilometres 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 
harbours. 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. However, 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 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." 

"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 the Canadians" 

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