It's Not My Emergency Retired Crisis Manager's Brain Dump
This week a Facebook post landed in my Newsfeed; a poignant story of a fallen soldier’s return home. The story:
Letter from an airline pilot: He writes:
My lead flight attendant came to me and said, “We have an H.R. on this flight.” (H.R. stands for human remains.) “Are they military?” I asked.
‘Yes’, she said.
‘Is there an escort?’ I asked.
‘Yes, I’ve already assigned him a seat’.
‘Would you please tell him to come to the flight deck. You can board him early,” I said.
A short while later, a young army sergeant entered the flight deck. He was the image of the perfectly dressed soldier. He introduced himself and I asked him about his soldier. The escorts of these fallen soldiers talk about them as if they are still alive and still with us.
‘My soldier is on his way back to Virginia,’ he said. He proceeded to answer my questions, but offered no words.
I asked him if there was anything I could do for him and he said no. I told him that he had the toughest job in the military and that I appreciated the work that he does for the families of our fallen soldiers. The first officer and I got up out of our seats to shake his hand. He left the flight deck to find his seat.
We completed our pre-flight checks, pushed back and performed an uneventful departure. About 30 minutes into our flight I received a call from the lead flight attendant in the cabin. ‘I just found out the family of the soldier we are carrying, is on board’, she said. She then proceeded to tell me that the father, mother, wife and 2-year old daughter were escorting their son, husband, and father home. The family was upset because they were unable to see the container that the soldier was in before we left. We were on our way to a major hub at which the family was going to wait four hours for the connecting flight home to Virginia.
The father of the soldier told the flight attendant that knowing his son was below him in the cargo compartment and being unable to see him was too much for him and the family to bear. He had asked the flight attendant if there was anything that could be done to allow them to see him upon our arrival. The family wanted to be outside by the cargo door to watch the soldier being taken off the airplane. I could hear the desperation in the flight attendants voice when she asked me if there was anything I could do. ‘I’m on it’, I said. I told her that I would get back to her.
Airborne communication with my company normally occurs in the form of e-mail like messages. I decided to bypass this system and contact my flight dispatcher directly on a secondary radio. There is a radio operator in the operations control center who connects you to the telephone of the dispatcher. I was in direct contact with the dispatcher. I explained the situation I had on board with the family and what it was the family wanted. He said he understood and that he would get back to me.
Two hours went by and I had not heard from the dispatcher. We were going to get busy soon and I needed to know what to tell the family. I sent a text message asking for an update. I
saved the return message from the dispatcher and the following is the text:
‘Captain, sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. There is policy on this now and I had to check on a few things. Upon your arrival a dedicated escort team will meet the aircraft. The team will escort the family to the ramp and plane side. A van will be used to load the remains with a secondary van for the family. The family will be taken to their departure area and escorted into the terminal where the remains can be seen on the ramp. It is a private area for the family only. When the connecting aircraft arrives, the family will be escorted onto the ramp and plane side to watch the remains being loaded for the final leg home. Captains, most of us here in flight control are veterans. Please pass our condolences on to the family. Thanks.’
I sent a message back telling flight control thanks for a good job. I printed out the message and gave it to the lead flight attendant to pass on to the father. The lead flight attendant was very thankful and told me, ‘You have no idea how much this will mean to them.’
Things started getting busy for the descent, approach and landing. After landing, we cleared the runway and taxied to the ramp area. The ramp is huge with 15 gates on either side of the alleyway. It is always a busy area with aircraft maneuvering every which way to enter and exit. When we entered the ramp and checked in with the ramp controller, we were told that all traffic was being held for us.
‘There is a team in place to meet the aircraft’, we were told. It looked like it was all coming together, then I realized that once we turned the seat belt sign off, everyone would stand up at once and delay the family from getting off the airplane. As we approached our gate, I asked the co-pilot to tell the ramp controller we were going to stop short of the gate to
make an announcement to the passengers. He did that and the ramp controller said, ‘Take your time.’
I stopped the aircraft and set the parking brake. I pushed the public address button and said, ‘Ladies and gentleman, this is your Captain speaking I have stopped short of our gate to make a special announcement. We have a passenger on board who deserves our honor and respect. His Name is Private XXXXXX, a soldier who recently lost his life. Private XXXXXX is under your feet in the cargo hold. Escorting him today is Army Sergeant XXXXXXX. Also, on board are his father, mother, wife, and daughter. Your entire flight crew is asking for all passengers to remain in their seats to allow the family to exit the aircraft first. Thank you.’
We continued the turn to the gate, came to a stop and started our shutdown procedures. A couple of minutes later I opened the cockpit door. I found the two forward flight attendants crying, something you just do not see. I was told that after we came to a stop, every passenger on the aircraft stayed in their seats, waiting for the family to exit the aircraft.
When the family got up and gathered their things, a passenger slowly started to clap his hands. Moments later more passengers joined in and soon the entire aircraft was
clapping. Words of ‘God Bless You’, I’m sorry, thank you, be proud, and other kind words were uttered to the family as they made their way down the aisle and out of the airplane.
They were escorted down to the ramp to finally be with their loved one.
Many of the passengers disembarking thanked me for the announcement I had made. They were just words, I told them, I could say them over and over again, but nothing I say will bring back that brave soldier.
I respectfully ask that all of you reflect on this event and the sacrifices that millions of our men and women have made to ensure our freedom and safety in these USA, Canada, Australia New Zealand, England.
Once I got done sobbing my guts out, I was ready to immediately share it with my friends. But, I stopped and re-read the story. This time, I wondered; “Did this really happen?” I’ve become really skeptical when reading social media stories like this. I know enough about how commercial airline pilots operate and communicate on the flight deck to suspect the person who wrote this had at least the same level of knowledge as me (which isn’t much, but more than most folks). So, I did what any other savvy SM geek would do…I went to Snopes.com.
Sure enough, Snopes.com has a slight variation of the story in their database. I also turned to Google, typed in a few search terms which all pointed to this site; purportedly the blog of the airline pilot who wrote the story in 2008.
As of two days ago, Snopes.com has yet to verify the authenticity of the story. The immediate visceral emotional reaction it sparked in me, and the fact that the alleged pilot has not blogged for a couple of years has me even more skeptical that it actually happened (at least the way it is written).
BUT, in this case I don’t give a damn. I went ahead and shared it with my Facebook friends. Regardless of whether or not it is true, a story like this taps the spirit of heroism and honor of all who place themselves in harm’s way, and was worth sharing.
Three years ago, I was waiting in the Denver International Airport for a connecting flight home. I walked by an adjacent gate and saw emergency vehicles parked on the tarmac with their emergency lights on. Intrigued, I moved to the window, watching as a Southwest Airlines ground crew and port fire/police crews stood at attention as a military honor guard carefully carried the soldier to the hearse. The passengers respectfully stayed on the plane until the soldier was removed, and then silently filed out into the terminal.
I unconsciously stood at attention, glued to the glass for the 15 minutes it took to move the soldier to the hearse. You could have heard a pin drop. Someone suddenly sobbed. I turned around to see at least 100 people standing in silent tribute. The person sobbing said she was a mother of a soldier, and had a ticket on the same plane for the next leg of the flight. She didn’t want to get on the plane. Another woman reassured her that everything was fine and that she should go. I went over to her, expressed my gratitude for her son’s service, and went to the bar to salute our heroes. I never found out if she actually got on the plane.
You know what? I don’t care if Snopes.com finds out the truth. The story told will always be real to me. To all those that have-and continue to serve- THANK YOU AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!
