“Our pilot sounded very restrained; you could tell he was feeling some stress,” Anderson, explains. “After we landed, he read an official statement that was sketchy, basically telling us that two planes had collided with the World Trade Center, another at the Pentagon and a fourth plane was missing, but not much more.”

As soon as the plane landed, like many of her fellow passengers, Karen pulled out a cell phone and got busy dialing, calling her husband Jamie (of EAW) at home that day with a horrendous case of poison ivy. He was able to fill in some of the details.

“He told me that the World Trade Centers were gone, and I said, ‘what do you mean gone’?” she notes. “They’re down, destroyed completely, he tried to explain. I heard a lot of gasps from others on the plane getting the information at the same way, and you could feel the tension level rising in the cabin. Passengers without cell phones began asking those of us who did to call folks with land lines who in turn could call loved ones and let them know they were OK.”

The plane had set down just after 1 pm, toward the rear of a very long line of jets parked in lines on the tarmac. The cabin quickly starting heating up to an uncomfortable degree. It had become a waiting game, and fortunately for the passengers on this particular flight, the pilot and crew took all steps possible to help ease the strain. The cabin doors were opened to allow the flow of fresh air, the pilot made himself visible, talking with passengers and answering questions as best as possible.

“The vibe on the plane became more like a pub, for lack of a better description,” Anderson describes. “Folks wandered around and chatted, some just moved up to first class and plopped down, the bar was opened and people helped themselves to whatever they wanted. After about four hours, the smokers had had enough, and the pilot was very cool, letting them set up a smoking lounge in the rear galley.”

Positioned toward the end of the line, they waited close to eleven hours before disembarking, all the while with ambulances and buses speeding up and down the tarmac. In total, more than 8,000 airline passengers would be detained.

“We finally got to first in line and were able to get off the plane,” notes Seid, whose husband is EAW’s Rich Frembes. “It was absolutely surreal – we walked under and around huge jetliners illuminated by searchlights, passing a row of armed guards on the way to the terminal. We were processed through customs and told to proceed directly to our bus, do not pass ‘go’ and collect $200, just get to the bus.”

“They must have commandeered every bus in Halifax – transit buses, school buses, private buses, mini buses – you name it,” Anderson adds. “Our group of passengers was kept together and herded on to a school bus. Some of the more industrious ones had made reservations at local hotels and also had tried to rent cars, thinking they might be able to drive home.”

Off the group went into the chilly Nova Scotia night for a two-hour ride to Camp Aldershot, a Canadian Army Reserve Training Camp next to the town of Kentville. Close to 800 passengers were decamped here, what Anderson estimates as the last four to five plane loads in line. Arriving at the camp around 4 am, they were shown to the barracks and told to “pick your bunk”. They still had only sketchy images of the attack, let alone having seen none of the shocking images on television.

“We hadn’t had the ‘luxury’- for lack of a better term - to see it unfold piece by piece on TV like most everyone else at home,” Seid offers. “When we finally found a TV in the officer’s quarters and turned on CNN, we got slapped by the whole thing at once, the planes, the fire, the explosions…”

Anderson finishes the sentence: “…that was probably the most intense time, when 780 people collectively are seeing this for the first time. There was shock, there was crying, and it didn’t matter what nationality you were, people were just losing it. This is when it really hit us that this was real, it was very real, and we were stranded far away from home in this army camp with people we didn’t even know.”

They were directed to register with the Red Cross on site, providing name, flight number, next of kin, what barracks they were staying in… Next, a meal at the camp mess hall, and then an attempt to get some sleep. Access to luggage was denied for security reasons, a policy continued until their departure. They had only what had been carried on the plane. Showers were available in a communal shower room affording no privacy, but there were no complaints about this or anything else.

"Physically, this wasn’t a hardship. We were really lucky, actually. From what we heard, some of the earlier groups had it much tougher, forced to bunk in gyms and exhibition halls, where they had nothing, not even a good place to wash up,” Anderson explains. “We also heard that those who landed in Newfoundland were stranded on their planes for days – there was simply no place else for them to go. So in comparison, we really lucked out.”

“Both the Red Cross and Canadian reservists on site were tireless in trying to meet the emotional and physical needs of their guests. Food was plentiful, soccer games were organized, and even a day care and lending library was set up. Worship services were conducted for a variety of different faiths.

“The Canadian reservists were amazing,” Anderson adds. “They were gentle in their approach and language, making everyone feel safe and secure. They’d stop by and talk with you, asking if you were all right, and they would do everything possible to get you the information you wanted, even tracking you down with an answer in the midst of all these people.”

A routine of sorts settled over the camp, with time divided between meals and information checks with staff members, inquiries about when they might hope to fly home. Some stared at television for hours, others napped and still others formed friendly groups that would talk and travel to town together.

Seid and Anderson found themselves part of a spirited group comprised of English, Irish and German folks with whom they shared conversation for hours, and taking trips into town. Cabs were available, and the Kentville Fire Department graciously used spare vehicles to take groups anywhere they wanted to go. Essentials like clean socks and underwear could be purchased at the local mall, along with about any other necessities and comforts desired.

A member of the group had been forced to miss his scheduled wedding in the U.S., so to console him, he was taken by his new mates to a local bar, who ensured he was able to forget his troubles. “- He missed his own wedding so it was only appropriate,” Anderson explains.

A Pakistani passenger – a citizen of UK - was subjected to a lengthy interview by Canadian Secret Service agents on hand, yet he showed extreme grace in being singled out, humorously telling the group that he was shown a picture of someone and asked “is this you?”. The individual pictured, presumed to be a suspect, was tall, thin and bore absolutely no facial resemblance to the shorter and obviously unrelated passenger.

He further added that the agents were unfailingly polite and even somewhat apologetic about having to detain and interview him, and he came away with a sense of being glad that the agents were being thorough in their work.
Days were remarkably similar – “you ate, you slept and you waited for news, read the paper and talked to others, trying for the most part not to dwell on the tragedy too much,” Seid offers. “Most of us could only stand watching the news on TV for 15 minutes at a time and then you had to try to think about something else. It was really so hard to grasp, especially being stranded so far from home.”

“The bonding of the people was the most amazing part,” Anderson continues. “You could just be walking around the camp and see someone upset and not feel inhibited at all about walking right up to them, asking ‘are you OK’? And suddenly you’d find yourself sitting with a man from Belgium or a woman from Greece, talking about whatever. People dropped their pretenses, their barriers, and it was the most heartening thing.”

Reaction among the international group was unanimous as to the horror of the tragedy, but opinions about possible U.S. response were varied. Many expressed concerns that the U.S. would respond immediately with a knee-jerk military action of destruction, a very real possibility but proven unfounded with the benefit of hindsight.

“It was also interesting to hear their opinions that they wouldn’t be allowed to enter the U.S., that our borders would be completely shut to international visitors,” Anderson adds, noting that concern, too, went unfounded.

By Friday (9/14), there were rumors that planes would be released, that maybe everyone was going home. It was a nerve-racking time, with airliners from Lufthansa and British Airways returned to Europe. It turns out that U.S.-based carriers would be allowed to carry on to their original destinations, but others were turned back to their point of origin.
Passengers were reunited with their luggage as they were herded back on to the school bus that would take them to the airport. One woman came up with a wonderful gesture, suggesting that all passengers donate all of their leftover Canadian currency to the Red Cross, a suggestion that proved understandably popular.

Following two hours navigating airport security, where their Swiss Army Knives were confiscated, along with a variety of cosmetic items like nail files and tweezers, Anderson and Seid were finally en route to Boston’s Logan Airport. “One guy’s socks were almost confiscated because they’d been on his feet for four days and could have been considered a biological weapon,” Anderson jokes. "We were all pretty haggard by that point".

But the adventure wouldn’t end that easily, with their plane diverted to Hartford, CT, where Karen was finally reunited with Jamie and daughter Jessie at 2 am, admitting that she “lost it” a bit at this point. Meanwhile, Linda arranged for a ride to her apartment, picking up a guest along the way in the form of a semi-pro soccer player from the U.K. named Tom, en route to Ottawa to see a specialist about his injured knee.

“We finally got to my apartment at about 4 am, and I was so happy I almost bent down to kiss the carpet,” Seid says. “I woke up a couple of hours later, in my own bed and with a relative stranger crashed on my couch, and it seemed like the last several days hadn’t really happened, that instead it had just been a weird dream. But it wasn’t.”

Later that day, she helped Tom get a bus that would push him further along to his final destination, and both Karen and Linda reported to work bright and early the following Monday morning, while some of their fellow employees were still stranded in London.

“It’s really difficult to come to terms with this tragedy and how to express our own story in any words that mean something,” Anderson concludes. “As I reflect, the one thing that stands out is that from out of the absolute worst in human behavior came the absolute best in human behavior."