New York! (almost)

NOT the New York skyline

After years of flying Delta (Stuttgart-Atlanta-Richmond), we decided to cut our air time by flying directly to New York and then, after spending a few days there seeing the sights, driving down to Richmond to see the family.

Nice thought, but thanks to an overheated second engine, we had to make an emergency landing in Newfoundland and Labrador - Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Never heard of it? Neither had we. But when the pilot suddenly announces, "Ladies and gentlemen, we'll be landing in ten minutes," you will never forget it.
Calmly ask your children to put on their shoes and coats. Try to ignore the other passengers, who are still watching "Friends", "The Office" and "Olympus Has Fallen" and keep breathing. In. Out.

Goose Bay is a Canadian Forces Base with a large German presence, judging from all the flags hanging on the dozens of barracks near the airport. The Canadian Border Services are prepared to handle general aviation craft with no more than 15 passengers, but they were quite patient with the 270 of us.

Hey, that's not the Brooklyn Bridge!

My former colleague, Greg Fuller, wrote that the airplanes he was on used to stop there to refuel on their way from Chicago to Shannon, Ireland, back in the 1960s. And it is also where inbound flights stopped on 9/11/2001 once US airspace was closed. The nice young woman at the greeting center said there was usually at least one emergency landing there each week.

The fire crew greeted us as we landed.

The ground staff was prepared for us. We went through customs as iPhones were passed around and relatives were informed of the delay.

Looking for Mondrian in Labrador, Canada

Old black and white school buses transported us to a large dining hall where we were allowed to eat and drink as much as we liked.

Every so often a rumor would spread from the doorway area that the buses were ready to take us to the airport. The children were very patient and the other passengers were docile after they got the wireless code and could get back onto facebook.

Can you find Julia and Fynn?

During the course of the afternoon, families played the games they had brought along in their carry-on luggage, small groups talked or watched CBC TV and parents tried to keep their young children from having a melt-down.

Six hours later another plane arrived from Newark and took us to our final destination.

We were allowed to sit wherever we wanted. I sat on the wrong side and could only get this shot of my first Canadian sunset.

Normally, Continental/United would have to offer each passenger $600 each for such a delay; however, their "appreciation" page gives us a choice of $200 vouchers or 20% off tickets purchased directly from united.com. So if you are planning to travel within the US this year, contact me and we'll talk about vouchers!