Twenty years ago, Nick Marson and Diane Kirschke were strangers on board Continental Airlines flight 5 traveling from LGW to IAH when their flight was diverted to Newfoundland as a result of the 9/11 attacks. Nick and Diane's flight rerouted to Gander, a rural town with a population of just 10,000, and the 36th of 38 planes to land. Upon arrival, passengers were informed of the tragic event and took shelter in the small town. The two strangers went out for some air, and while chatting, found that they had plenty in common. Afterwards, the Newfoundland volunteers were initiating the "plane people" into a local tradition known as a Screech-In, a way of designating visitors "honorary Newfoundlanders." The process involves drinking a lot of screech and kissing a cod fish, and Nick bought Diane a beer to celebrate. Five days after the planes landed, aircraft were finally permitted to leave and Diane took the jump to kiss Nick before their flight back to Texas. While Nick returned to England, he took a business trip to visit Diane in Texas in OCT, and a month later, he proposed. When it came to their honeymoon, there was no question that the couple would return to Newfoundland, and arrived to a surprise wedding reception in the town of Gambo. Nick and Diane's story became one of several tales woven into the Tony and Olivier award-winning musical "Come From Away.” "It's just a testimony to the generosity, the friendship and the openness of the Newfoundland people," says Diane. "It's a 9/12 story. It's the aftermath of what happened on 9/11. But on 9/12, love reigned."
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