NPR Blogs

WATCH: Their Flight Was Delayed. So, They Broke Out An Accordion And Partied

By Colin Dwyer

Published November 21, 2017 at 3:34 PM EST

It wasn't exactly welcome news.

The flight they'd booked wouldn't be leaving on time Monday night. The passengers had already been passing time at their departure gate with a little informal singalong, Canada's Global News reports, but then, they had also expected to be leaving soon — until they found out that, rather than stepping on the plane right away to leave Toronto for Newfoundland and Labrador, they were now destined instead to kill some more time.

So, the passengers did as any disgruntled travelers would do: The big group of strangers got out the accordion and guitar.

"Well, with that, everyone cheered and they said, 'All right, let's go again!' and we just started again," passenger Michelle Sacrey Philpott told the Global News.

Sheldon Thornhill was on accordion and Sean Sullivan joined him with his guitar, according to the CBC. A young boy even stepped in for a solo, as you can see at the two-minute mark in the video above. (To turn on the sound, press play then click the little speaker in the video's bottom right corner.)

Sacrey Philpott had her phone out and recording while people in the waiting area joined in, belting out folk standards and clapping along. Look closely enough and you might even catch a few folks dancing in the back.

"I looked around and everyone had a different expression," Sacrey Philpott said. "You see people laughing, you see tears in people's eyes. It was a homesick sad."

Eventually, she posted those shots to Facebook and got on the plane, which was finally ready to depart.

But there was yet another surprise awaiting Sacrey Philpott when she landed, the CBC notes: Those videos had already been viewed more than 100,000 times.

"Everyone was talking about the videos when we got off the flight because so many people had seen it," she told the CBC. "It was quite funny."

Americans, as you prepare to travel home or elsewhere for the Thanksgiving holiday, let this be a lesson to you: Always be ready for a singalong. And please, for the sake of all your fellow passengers, be sure to bring your accordion too.