This Charlotte-area couple experienced the compassion captured in ‘Come From Away’

If Jim and Phyllis Knubel had been willing to spend part of a day in Detroit, they could have been resting at their home outside New York City when hijackers smashed two planes into the World Trade Center.

But because her hip bothered her — she was due for a replacement — they stayed in Amsterdam one extra day to await a nonstop flight to JFK. That decision plunged the couple into an extraordinary adventure, one they shared with 6,500 other displaced people and one that inspired the Tony-nominated musical “Come From Away.”

The couple were moving to York County, S.C., a few years ago when the show reached Broadway, so they’ve never seen it. When the national tour lands in Charlotte on Jan. 7, they’ll finally watch fiction and recollection align.

Like the characters in the musical, they found themselves stuck for four days in Gander, a town of just under 10,000 people on the east coast of Newfoundland. Air traffic controllers redirected more than 40 civilian and military planes there after the attacks, partly to make sure passengers were safe and partly to isolate any other terrorists trying to enter the U.S.

Gander’s population suddenly swelled to more than 16,000, with a ratio of three natives to every two visitors. How everybody coped forms the basis of both the show and one of the Knubels’ happiest memories.

“They gave us food. They gave us medication. And they wouldn’t let us pay for anything,” Phyllis said. “A girl said, ‘Helping people who need it comes naturally to us. We are not rich financially, but we are rich in love and compassion.’ I don’t think the people where we lived at the time would have responded in the same way.”

Gander after 9/11

You might be surprised at the town’s ability to accommodate dozens of emergency landings by international carriers, or the speed and efficiency with which people responded to the crisis.

But Gander served as a jumping-off point for thousands of European-bound bombers and fighter planes during World War II. (Many Gander streets bear the names of famous pilots, from Amelia Earhart to Chuck Yeager.) And, Jim said, these isolated denizens of Canada’s wind-whipped coast had put a disaster preparation plan in place long before 9/11.

“Being low in population, everybody helps everybody in Newfoundland,” he said. “They have a culture where they take care of each other, where everyone volunteers for something. So they were prepared even for something like this.”

The Knubels had been visiting Kenya and had broken their return trip in Amsterdam. Suddenly a vacation planned with care descended into chaos and anxiety. Their pilot initially told them he was stopping to refuel, and they could expect about an hour’s delay before proceeding to JFK. Only later did they learn America had been attacked.

Aircraft unloaded one at a time, as travelers moved slowly through customs. The Knubels got off the seventh plane 17 hours after landing “in zombie mode,” leaving their checked luggage on board, Jim recalled. (They’d packed their cameras, so they could take no pictures.)

School bus drivers who’d been on strike arrived to drive travelers to refugee centers. Voyagers were permitted to make one five-minute call anywhere in the world; Jim phoned his secretary, who updated the Knubels’ friends and family.

Volunteer response

Jim had been to Newfoundland twice before on moose-hunting trips, but the unflappable Newfies (as he said they like to be called) exceeded all expectations. They found translators for people who couldn’t speak English — Phyllis estimated that people of 50 nationalities passed through Gander that week — and even sent out of town for kosher food for a Jewish family.

The Knubels first went to stay at Lakewood Academy in Glenwood, a Gander suburb, but the sleeping mat on the floor didn’t bode well for Phyllis’ hip. Volunteer Carole Findlay had a better idea: Why not come home with her? She washed their clothes, fed them, gave them time for hot showers … and informed them it wasn’t actually her house.

She’d been staying with the owner, Gordon Head, and his future wife, Allison. Findlay was sure they wouldn’t mind — and indeed they didn’t, hosting the Knubels until planes could go back to the United States. The Knubels were even “screeched in” as honorary Newfies, during a ceremony involving a potent rum.

Lifelong friendships resulted. When the Heads married, the Knubels sent them airline tickets to New York, hosted them on their honeymoon and showed them the city. And even though they stayed just four days, the Knubels came back different people.

“The experience changed me,” Jim said. “Before 9/11, if somebody had needed my help, I would have given them some food or a blanket. But our experiences in Gander made me a kinder person.”

“Are we sorry we didn’t get on that flight the day before? I have to say no,” Phyllis said. “We would have gotten home faster, but we wouldn’t have had any of those amazing experiences.”

Fate had one last trick to play on the Knubels. When the United States finally let air travelers cross the border, they couldn’t find a direct connection from Gander to New York. They took the best deal they could get, a plane that made one stop en route — in Detroit.

“Come From Away”

WHEN: Jan. 7-12 at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday. Audio description and ASL provided at Sunday matinee.

WHERE: Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St.

RUNNING TIME: 100 minutes with no intermission.

TICKETS: $25-$199.50.

DETAILS: 704-372-1000 or blumenthalarts.org.

This story is part of an Observer underwriting project with the Thrive Campaign for the Arts, supporting arts journalism in Charlotte.

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This story was originally published December 30, 2019 at 5:30 AM.