What a note from a time capsule found on a plane said
More than a year after Delta parked a plane, a pilot found it in the cockpit.
As the world rapidly shut down last March and thousands of airplanes went out of service and into long-term storage in the desert, a Delta Air Lines pilot tucked a handwritten note inside a tray table only to be found by a pilot who would someday bring that plane back into service.
First officer Chris Dennis wrote, "It's March 23rd and we just arrived from MSP (Minneapolis - St. Paul International Airport). Very chilling to see so much of our fleet in the desert," according to Delta.
As the fallout from the pandemic paralyzed air travel, dozens of planes had been arriving each day in Victorville Airport, an airport with no commercial service about two hours outside of Los Angeles primarily used to store airplanes for long periods of time.
First Officer Dennis had heard talks of a two-week lockdown but had no idea when the world would return to normal or when that aircraft would fly again, according to the airline.
Another Delta pilot flew to Victorville 435 days later to bring Delta plane 3009 back into service. Inside the cockpit, he found the letter.
"If you are here to pick up then the light must be at the end of the tunnel. Amazing how fast it changed. Have a safe flight bringing it out of storage!" the note read.
Delta shared this story in a Facebook post that has now been liked by more than 7,000 people.
The post says, in part: "Those 57 words, which captured so much of the uncertainty and emotion we all felt in March 2020, underscored the gravity of the trip, and how optimistic he now feels about the direction we're heading in. Ship 3009 is now prepared to take the skies once again. While the world certainly has changed over the past year, one thing is for certain: we won't be taking that open runway for granted anytime soon."