WHAT was supposed to be a routine six-hour travel from Jamaica to Philadelphia turned into a 20-hour nightmare for myself, the Vere Technical track and field team, and many more Jamaicans heading to the Penn Relays.

We boarded Fly Jamaica’s Flight OJ 121 to New York for a 5:30 am departure (2:30 am check-in) from the Norman Manley International Airport and were scheduled to hit the tarmac at 10:15 am (9:15 am Jamaican time) at the JFK International Airport in New York.

But after flying for approximately three-and-half hours, the pilot announced we could not land because of poor weather conditions in New York. We circled for another hour in hopes the weather would improve, but eventually had to divert to the Baltimore-Washington International Airport in Maryland.

We landed there at about 11:00 am, and were stuck on the plane for a torturous three hours waiting for the weather to clear up in New York. By about 2:30 pm, we were told we would have to disembark and be put in hotels or be sent via bus to New York for an estimated four-hour drive.

After making our way through Customs and Immigration, only some people were able to collect their bags in a timely fashion. Others had to wait up to five hours. During that time, the Jamaicans were told, in no uncertain manner, that they had to leave the airport and board the two buses assigned for New York and make claims for the missing bags there.

But the irate Jamaicans, making their voices heard, would not take that command sitting down. Vere Technical’s Principal Dr Henrietta Stewart saw that things were not getting better and made an SOS call for help.

Dr Stewart called a past student, who in turn called Rick Nugent, the president of National Associations of Jamaica and Supportive Organisations (NAJASO). It turned out that Nugent then made a call to Jamaican-born Maryland Senator Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, who contacted the airport.

That changed the tide.

As the Jamaican contingent was ordered out of the airport, and I was slowly and reluctantly making my exit, in disbelief that I lost my luggage, a female airport representative asked me to hold on.

“I think we might have found some bags. Hold on,” she said. My eyes widened with excitement. I bellowed to fellow journalist Roger Hasfal of Irie FM for him to inform the people outside.

Within seconds the area was filled with happy-faced Jamaicans.

“Mi tell unu seh a lie dem a tell,” said one irate female. She was making that point for quite a while.

“A get dem wha get wi out fi search wi bags,” said another.

There was a look of relief on the faces of the Vere Technical girls as the bags eventually came out. Soon, the delegation was ready to roll.

Further good fortune came not long after when, instead of going to New York, the Vere team was taken on the two-and-a-half-hour drive to Philadelphia and booked into their hotel Double Tree by Hilton, which is a 45-minute drive from Franklin Field, the home of the Penn Relays.

Before that, the team was also able to dine in comfort.

Nugent and Chris Davis, a past president of Jamaica Association of Maryland (JAM), took them to a Jamaican restaurant called Island Quisine, owned by Donovan Murphy, who was in Jamaica only last week to give a motivational speech at Glenmuir High.

Had it not been for Senator Natham-Pulliam, who was born in Trelawny and attended Mico in Kingston, and others within the Diaspora, the Vere Technical track team would have been in chaos ahead of the Penn Relays, which begins tomorrow.