Cleared for departure by car: How a grounded flight turned strangers into friends

Flights across the country were grounded Friday during a nationwide ground stop, including a flight from Detroit to Cleveland. Macin Sheeder was one of the passengers on that plane.

"We heard this announcement from the pilot that there was this communications issue, we were going to be grounded, we weren't sure how long it was going to be," Sheeder said.

While their plane was going nowhere, another way home was about to take flight. As the delay dragged on, passengers started talking and joking about another way home.

"Let's all rent a bus and go home together to Cleveland," Sheeder explained.

That sparked an idea for Sheeder. She was texting her partner, David Suh, who was home in Cleveland.

"I knew he was probably going to be my only option for getting home," Sheeder said.

"It was around like 5 when she was like, I think you're gonna have to come pick me up, and I was like, OK, OK. I mean, you know, obviously I'm happy to pick her up," Suh said.

"I was thinking, well, if he's coming to get me, we have at least three more seats in our car. So I figured if we have the room, why not try to bring some folks home with us," Sheeder said.

So a group of people who boarded the plane as strangers piled into a car together heading home.

"We talked about our jobs, our families, our cultures, our pets, talking about what sorts of traditions we do for the holidays, what we're doing for Thanksgiving, the kind of music that we like, our hometowns," Sheeder said.

By the time they made it back to Cleveland, the strangers didn't feel so strange anymore.

"By the end of it, I ended up feeling really close to these people, and we ended the night with a big group hug and everybody kind of went along on their way," Sheeder said.

A trip that started with uncertainty ended in an unexpected connection.

"I just feel like during times of crisis, this whole experience just really showed how much people are willing to step up and help each other," Sheeder said.

A grounded flight may have kept them out of the air, but a little kindness got them home.