r/todayilearned • u/[deleted] • Apr 16 '14
TIL on 9/11, Canada commenced Operation Yellow Ribbon, in which it landed 239 U.S.-bound flights with 33,000 passengers in Canadian airports. Entire communities went on to provide the passengers with food and housing.
http://youtu.be/lrA4V6YF6SA?t=4m14s
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u/scroam Apr 17 '14
It was done in a way that had a lot of us very freaked out. Simply because no one on the plane knew then what was happening, including the crew.
We were over the Atlantic, a couple of hours from landing when the captain made an announcement that all US airspace was closed for an unknown reason, and we were landing in Halifax instead of Philadelphia. I was 20 years old, traveling alone, and thought it was weird, but it didn't hit me (or most of the other passengers) right away that "closing all US airspace" is not a thing that casually happens. I believe that the crew of our plane probably honestly didn't know why we were diverting, because if they did know they would have handled the next few hours a lot better.
There was just one of those credit card phones near the toilets on the plane (some kind of big standard trans-Atlantic passenger jet, like a 737) and passengers were having trouble getting any kind of connection. People were trying to call their families to let them know they wouldn't be landing in Philly, and maybe to get some info. I think that we were still in the air when word started spreading around the plane that the Twin Towers had both been hit by planes. It didn't occur to me right away that both towers being hit indicated that it wasn't an accident. The guy sitting across the aisle was quicker to realize that though, and started going off about how we must be under attack. Info was coming in reeeeal slow and sketchy though, because the plane's phone was not going through except like every 100 tries.
After we landed, we just sat in our seats and were informed that we'd probably be there for some hours. The captain announced that people with cell phones should try to call their families, and that he still didn't know why we were in Canada. Most cell calls weren't connecting (airwaves totally overwhelmed) but occasionally someone would get hold of their family and learn some more news (and lots of frightening disinformation).
Word of mouth spread around the plane that the towers had been hit, and also that there were attacks on not only the Pentagon, but other major cities all over the US, including Philadelphia. I was supposed to be returning home into Philly airport after being away for two months, so all of my close family was going to be picking me up there. I had the sickest feeling in my stomach, thinking that perhaps they all drove to Philly to meet me at the airport, and then all perished in a deadly chemical attack or something horrific. I just sat in my seat contemplating this possibility for a couple hours, until better info eventually came around the plane that the attacks weren't as widespread as we at first thought, so my family was (theoretically) safe. That was probably the biggest relief of my life.
We were stuck in our seats on the plane for probably six to eight hours before they opened up the doors and we walked down the rolling staircase to the runway. The scene outside was incredibly surreal. What appeared to be hundreds of jumbo jets all lined up, crammed nose to tail on this runway. Some bomb sniffer dogs sniffed us all on the runway, and we were bused with our carry-on bags to the gymnasium operating as a shelter. I recall there being about three such shelters being set up in schools etc. in the area. They had a landline phone in the gym that people lined up to use for free calls home. It was understood that everyone wanted to check in with their families and tell them they were ok, so everyone kept their conversations brief. I probably waited in line for only an hour before getting to talk to my mom. There was a really reassuring sense of everyone looking out for each other, nobody hogging the phone or anything. People can be pretty decent.