Dew's
Insights from a Prophet's Life tells another miraculous story involving Nelson and a plane. This time, though, he was traveling by Concorde rather than by Piper:
In January 1988, Elder Nelson and Dantzel boarded the Concorde in New York for a quick three-hour and forty-five minute flight to London's Heathrow International airport. Their first assignment in England was to speak to a large congregation, including missionaries from the London South Mission, that evening in Crawley, England.
About the time the plane should have begun its descent, the intercom crackled and the pilot announced that, unfortunately, Heathrow was socked in with fog and the plane was diverting to Manchester, 211 miles north of London. Elder Nelson's heart sank. There was no way he and Dantzel could get from Manchester back to Crawley to keep their appointment that night. He immediately sat back in his seat and offered a silent but fervent prayer that the way would open for them to honor their commitments and speak to the Saints who were assembling, even at that hour, in Crawley.
A few minutes later, the pilot came back on the intercom and announced that there was another change in plans. They didn't have enough fuel to make it to Manchester but had been cleared at Gatwick, another London area airport, for an emergency refueling stop. He added that no passengers would be allowed to disembark.
Gatwick was actually closer to Crawley than even Heathrow, so despite the announcement that passengers could not get off the plane there, Elder Nelson told Dantzel to gather her things because they were getting off. He then called a flight attendant, explained his dilemma, and asked if he and his wife could please deplane at Gatwick.
"No," she responded.
He gently continued with his appeal: "You don't understand. I have a thousand or more people gathered to hear me speak. I really must get off here."
The flight attendant persisted in saying no, and Elder Nelson insisted he really must get off the plane. Finally, the flight attendant summoned the pilot for reinforcements. Together they listed all the reasons the Nelsons could not get off the plane. There were no customs agents waiting to greet this flight. They would not be able to get their luggage from the cargo hold. And so on.
Elder Nelson had a response for each issue: "We will find customs agents to let us through," he assured them. "All of our luggage is carry-on and we have it with us." Finally, the pilot shrugged and told the crew to let them off.
Meanwhile, President Ed J. Pinegar, president of the London South Mission, and his wife, Pat, were waiting at Heathrow for the Nelsons. With each new announcement about the change in flight, they too prayed silently and asked the Lord to intervene. When President Pinegar heard the flight had landed at Gatwick, he called the chapel where they were to speak. He didn't know if the Nelsons would be able to get off at Gatwick, but, hoping for the best, he arranged for a car to hurry to the airport to pick them up.
Not long after the Nelsons emerged from customs, a car arrived to get them, and they rushed off to the stake center. With all of the disruption, they were only fifteen minutes late to the meeting.
"A packed house witnessed a real miracle that night," Elder Nelson said. "We asked the Lord for help, and President and Sister Pinegar asked the Lord to help us, and the Lord responded. There was no doubt in any of our minds that we had experienced a miracle" (Pinegar, What Every Future Missionary, chapter 1).
Insights from a Prophet's Life, 199-201.
Pinegar's book has some additional, faith-promoting details. For example, Pinegar told a clerk at the airport that "there is an Apostle on that plane and he needs to be in Crawley to speak" and then asked the clerk why the plane didn't land at Gatwick. Within a minute or so, Pinegar writes, an announcement was made that the plane had been diverted to Gatwick.
“But if you are told by your leader to do a thing, do it. None of your business whether it is right or wrong.” Heber C. Kimball, 8 Nov. 1857