American Airlines flight 5085 was scheduled to depart at 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 18. But when Conley looked at his phone and saw that the time was 6:30 p.m. — about a half hour after the plane was originally supposed to land at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport — he knew something was awry.

That’s when the pilot told passengers that the plane had been diverted to a small airport in Wichita Falls, Texas, due to a severe impending storm which meant DFW was not allowing landings or takeoffs.

Rather than disembarking upon landing at 6:45 p.m. at Wichita Falls Regional Airport, Conley and his fellow passengers found themselves on the tarmac for over two hours because airport employees weren’t allowed outside due to the lightning.

But what could have been the flight from hell instead proved to be a beautiful, human experience, Conley, 38, said.

[This is a great story of strangers becoming friends and pulling together to get through adversity. If you only click one story out of Headlines today, it should be this one. — Ed]