well worth the read.....

The following is from a letter by a professional friend and her return flight to D.C. this week.

I just wanted to drop you all a note and let you
know that I arrived safe and sound into Dulles Airport tonight [9/15] at
about 6:00. It was an interesting flight.

The airport in Denver was almost spooky; it was so empty and quiet. No one
was in line for the security check point when I got there so that went
fairly quickly, just x-ray of my bags and then a chemical test to be sure
nothing explosive was on them. Then I waited 2 1/2 hours to board the plane.
What happened after we boarded was interesting and thought I would share it
with you.

The pilot/captain came on the loudspeaker after the doors were closed.
His speech went like this:

"First I want to thank you for being brave enough to fly today. The doors
are now closed and we have no help from the outside for any problems that
might occur inside this plane. As you could tell when you checked in, the
government has made some changes to increase security in the airports.


"They have not, however, made any rules about what happens after those doors
close. Until they do that, we have made our own rules and I want to share
them with you. Once those doors close, we only have each other.

"The security has taken care of a threat like guns with all of the increased
scanning, etc. Then we have the supposed bomb. If you have a bomb, there is
no need to tell me about it, or anyone else on this plane; you are already
in control. So, for this flight, there are no bombs that exist on this
plane.

"Now, the threats that are left are things like plastics, wood, knives, and
other weapons that can be made or things like that which can be used as
weapons.

"Here is our plan and our rules. If someone or several people stand up and
say they are hijacking this plane, I want you all to stand up together. Then
take whatever you have available to you and throw it at them. Throw it at
their faces and heads so they will have to raise their hands to protect
themselves."

"The very best protections you have against knives are the pillows and
blankets. Whoever is close to these people should then try to get a blanket
over their head--then they won't be able to see. Once that is done, get them
down and keep them there. Do not let them up. I will then land the plane at
the closest place and we WILL take care of them.

"After all, there are usually only a few of them and we are 200+ strong! We
will not allow them to take over this plane."
"I find it interesting that the US Constitution begins with the words 'We,
the people'--that's who we are, THE people and we will not be defeated."

With that, the passengers on the plane all began to applaud, people had
tears in their eyes, and we began the trip toward the runway.

The flight attendant then began the safety speech. One of the things she
said is that we are all so busy and live our lives at such a fast pace.
She asked that everyone turn to their neighbors on either side and introduce
themselves, tell each other something about your families and children, show
pictures, whatever. She said "for today, we consider you family. We will
treat you as such and ask that you do the same with us."

Throughout the flight we learned that for the crew, this was their first
flight since Tuesday's tragedies. It was a day that everyone leaned on each
other and together everyone was stronger than any one person alone.

It was quite an experience. You can imagine the feeling when that plane
touched down at Dulles and we heard "welcome to Washington Dulles Airport,
where the local time is 5:40". Again, the cabin was filled with applause.

Last night I saw a program with college students where one of them said that
at their campus there are no more hyphenated titles, i.e. African-American,
etc., everyone is just an American. No one will ever be able to take that
pride away from us. "

 

That is a great account>>this tragedy seems to have really brought ppl together

 

Thanks, Gina. I wish I had been on that flight.

 

That is great! I wish I was there

 

Fantastic

 

thing to write it down. Perhaps it was embellished a little bit? In any event it certainly is inspiring.

 

so funny, I was thinking the same thing. even if it's fiction, I'm in total agreement!! : )

 

"I've said this all along---- the jig is up---- even by the 4th plane, they couldn't pull it off. The only way few can control many is when each individual thinks that HE may survive if he's quiet & hides behind the mass.

They can never again incite the paralysing terror they got away with on the 1st 3 planes.

We all have to continue life as usual."

 

In our cases..... "The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few", doncha think? :-)

 

Yepper!