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Published: August 3rd 2005
That was a journey! My plane was intended to leave London Heathrow yesterday at 1pm, but didn't leave until 2pm. This was our saving grace. 10 minutes after we should have arrived in Toronto, a plane crashed (there were 24 injured, but no fatalities). Our flight was diverted to Ottawa where we set on the plane in a field for 5 hours. I found out later from an Air Canada manager that the pilot had dropped our fuel to speed our landing, but had dropped it too soon and we almost didn't have enough to land. By the time we finally exited the plane, we had been on it for 14 hours! We were in the airport for an hour and a half (going through customs and collecting our bags). Next, we were loaded into buses to Toronto. I was the last person who got on a chartered bus...the rest were on school buses. The trip was four and a half hours. We arrived at the Toronto airport at 4am but were taken to the wrong terminal. It was 5am when I got to the right terminal. Mom had called ahead and gotten me on the standby list, so I just had to wait in line for an hour and a half to get my standby boarding pass. I then proceeded to the gate where I waited anxiously. The plane was scheduled to board at 7:55, but didn't board until almost 9. Six people were allowed to board on standby. I was number 5! I got so lucky. Once we finally got a plane and boarded, we still had to wait almost an hour to get the luggage loaded and everything ready to go. Because so many flights were canceled yesterday the staff has just be worked to death. There was just too much to do. We finally left and I arrived in Houston at 12:00. So, from boarding the plane in London to arriving in Houston it took 30 hours. I really felt so blessed that our plane had been delayed in London and we weren't in Toronto when the plane crashed and that we ourselves landed safely and the I got on the chartered bus and that I got on the first availible flight. It sucked, but not nearly as bad it could have. So, I'm home and safe!
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anonymous
non-member comment
yaaaa!