Mary Moss was a promising radiologist travelling the world when she was caught up in one of the most terrifying events in history.
Key points:
- The Adelaide radiologist was midair when her flight was among dozens suddenly diverted because of the 9/11 attacks
- She and 7,000 other airline passengers ended up in a small town in Canada where they were embraced by locals
- Their story has now been set to music in the stage show Come From Away
She had decided to head from a wedding in Manchester, England, in September 2001 to a mammogram conference in New York, when her British Airlines plane was suddenly diverted.
The twin towers in New York had been targeted as part of terrorist attacks across America, and all planes heading to US airspace were ordered to immediately land at the nearest airports.
It resulted in dozens of planes and nearly 7,000 passengers touching down in the town of Gander, in Newfoundland in Canada, where they were adopted by residents for the next five days.
That story has been captured in the musical Come From Away, which premieres in Adelaide this week as part of a national tour.
Dr Moss, who today lives in Adelaide, will always remember that momentous time in her life, when she was an unwitting part of history.
While the COVID-19 pandemic stopped her from seeing the show previously, she will be front row at Her Majesty’s Theatre this week.
“It will probably bring back memories,” she said.
“It was 21 years ago now and things change and you sort of remember bits of it and I think it’ll bring back more.”
Dr Moss vividly recalls being stuck in the plane on the Gander airport tarmac for hours, with other passengers relying on her for information from her handheld radio.
Eventually, the passengers were taken into the small local terminal and watched the terrorist attacks unfolding repeatedly on flat screen televisions.
“I think there was fear probably for everyone in the world,” she said.
“I think for us — we were the safe ones and probably felt more lucky that we were on the ground and safe.”
The residents of Gander rallied to look after every passenger, taking them into homes, feeding them, doing everything they could to get them through days of waiting to fly out.
“Everyone just cooking and bringing in all their linen and sharing everything like that, something you don’t actually appreciate at the time — it just happened,” Dr Moss said.
Performer Pip Lowe said it was an honour to be part of a cast telling such a compelling part of history.
“It’s a lovely story, having 7,000 people drop in a town the size of Goolwa and then just being embraced by the community, it’s a great story,” he said.
“The mayor of Gander, who is an absolute card, said, ‘On the first day we said hello to 7,000 strangers.
“‘By day three we had 7,000 friends and on the fifth day when they left, we said goodbye to 7,000 family.'”
Come From Away premieres tonight and runs for several weeks.
