Local News

Diverted WV passengers recall Sept. 11

On Sept. 11, 2001, Gary Herridge and his wife Sharon boarded their flight from Paris heading back home to Washington, W.Va., when their plane made an unexpected landing in Gander, Newfoundland. Their plane was one of 38 that landed at Gander International Airport that day, after years of only a cargo plane or two landing daily.

Gary said the day started well, with clear skies and a view of the Atlantic Ocean on their international flight. A few hours in, the pilot said they were ahead of schedule and would arrive at their destination half an hour early. 

However, ten minutes later, Gary said, the pilot announced the plane would be landing immediately due to a systems problem. He said his first thought was "Where? We're in the middle of the Atlantic," until about 15 minutes later, he spotted land filled with nothing but trees. He said he couldn't see any towns or roads, just the wilderness of Newfoundland. 

Gary said when the plane was descending he could finally see a runway, lined with other planes on both sides. He said it was then he realized something was wrong in the U.S., "because there wouldn't be that many planes out there in the middle of nowhere on this one little runway." 

Herridge said his flight was the 29th plane to land in Gander, and after the plane settled in line with the others, the pilot announced there had been an attack and the U.S. had closed all airspaces. Passengers would be staying in Gander "for a good long while." 

Sharon Herridge said, in an account written as events were unfolding, their pilot Capt. John Powers was excellent at instilling confidence in the 250 passengers on board through the ordeal. They were told to conserve water and the food available on board would be served later than intended. 

She noted how everyone on the plane was remarkably calm and quiet about the situation, and she and Gary befriended a couple who sat next to them, "Angie and Kevin, a young couple from Florida," and Cynthia, "a federal attorney with the Justice Department," who was on her way to Washington, D.C.

The passengers stayed on the plane until approximately 9 a.m. the next morning, spending around 22 hours on board. 

Gary said because they were one of the last planes to arrive, they had to wait for the others to deplane as the airport had only one set of stairs to get passengers off the planes. Afterward, they were taken to the terminal where the residents of Gander had food and drinks ready and waiting. 

Eventually, passengers were told where they would be staying -- a youth church camp approximately 30 miles outside of Gander called Mint Brook Camp, for the foreseeable future. Gary said the passengers were put on to school buses with only their carry-on bags and driven into the remote wilderness. He said the camp was designed for 100 teenagers, with 10 cabins and with a lack of beds. The Anglican Church set up mattresses in the camp’s gymnasium for the remaining 150 passengers, who stayed for the next six days. 

Gary said during their six-day stay, residents of Gander were there every day to take care of them and provide meals. He said "those people were very, very good to us," and would come in every morning to start cooking breakfast. He said the passengers would help clean up after the meals and he made many connections to people he wouldn't have met otherwise. Passengers would find different ways to pass the time, he said, taking walks around the grounds and some even playing instruments they were traveling with. He said during their time everyone started working well with each other, pitching in through different ways around the camp. Though it was a scary time, there was a closeness that was created with many different people. 

Sharon said "the (Gander residents) there were absolutely wonderful to us ... it was a very nice experience. We got to meet a lot of good, kind people."

Gary said on Saturday, Sept. 15, the pilots came to the campground and announced they would be departing on Sunday -- finally heading back home. He said Sunday morning all passengers went back on to the school buses and traveled to the airport. 

When they were leaving the residents refused any money offered to them. The residents said it was something they didn't need payment for. Instead he and the other passengers of the plane donated to a fund for the dioceses of the Anglican Church that ran the camp they stayed at, to assist with their future endeavors. 

Gary said as their plane was departing, all the residents were lined up on both sides of the runway holding both American and Canadian flags as Gander said goodbye to its wayward voyagers. 

He said "they’d been working day and night to try to take care of all of us, and yet they still came out to see us off. It was really an emotional time."

Gary and Sharon said they look back at their time in Gander fondly, remembering the good times that were shared even as an unimaginable disaster unfolded.