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BUT IN THE MEANTIME, THIS WAR HAS REALLY UNFOLDED AROUND THEM. JONATHAN AND ELAINE WITTIG ARE JUST SOME OF THE MANY PEOPLE LOOKING TO FIND A WAY HOME AS WAR RAGES ON IN IRAN. WHEN THE NEWS BROKE SATURDAY ABOUT THE INITIAL STRIKES, THE COUPLE SAYS THEY GOT ALERTS ON THEIR PHONES TO TAKE COVER FOR A POTENTIAL AIRSTRIKE. THEY IMMEDIATELY WENT TO SPEAK WITH HOTEL STAFF, SPOKE TO THE PEOPLE DOWN THERE AND THEY SAID, WELL, WE WE THINK YOU’RE OKAY, WE THINK EVERYTHING’S OKAY. AND WE HAVE A SHELTER PREPARED. WITTIG SAYS HE SAW A DRONE BEING STRUCK DOWN WHILE HE WAS HAVING A CUP OF COFFEE. THEY HEARD THE NOISE COMING FROM THE FAIRMONT HOTEL A FEW MILES DOWN THE ROAD, AFTER IT WAS HIT BY A STRIKE. THE COUPLE WAS SET TO COME HOME TOMORROW, BUT BRITISH AIRWAYS CANCELED THEIR FLIGHT ON MONDAY. THEY WERE ABLE TO GET A TENTATIVE FLIGHT FOR SUNDAY, BUT THAT ALSO WAS CANCELED. WHAT IT DID SAY THEY DID TRY TO CONTACT THE STATE DEPARTMENT FOR SOME GUIDANCE, BUT AT THIS POINT HAVE NOT HAD ANY LUCK. AND I’VE HEARD STORIES OF OTHERS GETTING NO HELP OVER THE PHONE WHEN YOU PUNCH YOUR WAY THROUGH AND FINALLY GOT YOUR WAY THROUGH THE PUSHING. THAT PUSH ONE PUSH TWO, PUSH ONE, PUSH TWO KIND OF THING, THERE WAS NO HELP. BASICALLY, AT THE END OF AT THE END OF THE TRAIL. SO IT WAS A LITTLE FRUSTRATING. WITTIG SAYS THEY’RE TRYING TO KEEP THEIR SPIRITS UP AS THEY WAIT. AGAIN, WE’RE NOT TERRIBLY CONCERNED, BUT, YOU KNOW, WE YOU KNOW, AND WE LIKE IT HERE. IT’S A NICE PLACE, BUT WE REALLY LIKE TO GET HOME. WHEN I ASKED WHAT WOULD BE THE THOUGHT PROCESS OF THE NEXT STEP IF THEIR RETURN FLIGHT WAS CANCELED, I WAS TOLD THEY WOULD MOVE ON TO PLAN C, AND I ASKED WHAT PLAN C WAS. I WAS TOLD THEY DON’T KNOW JUST YET, BUT FOR NOW, COVERING ALLEGHENY COUNTY RIGHT HERE IN THE NORTH SHORE. CARLOS FLORES, PITTSBURGH’S ACTION NEWS FOUR. CARLOS THANK YOU. WE, OF COURSE, WILL CONTINUE TO FOLLOW THE VERY LATEST DEVELOPMENTS OUT OF THE MIDDLE EA
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‘We’d really like to get home’: American couple stranded in Dubai amid canceled flights
Americans and diplomats have been advised to leave the Middle East, but getting home has been a challenge with canceled flights.Jonathan and Elaine Widich, from the Pittsburgh suburb of Bethel Park, are stranded in Dubai.”We’re not terribly concerned, and we like it here; it’s a nice place, but we would really like to get home,” Jonathan Widich told Carlos Flores, a reporter with sister station WTAE, on Thursday morning.The couple said they received airstrike alerts on Saturday, prompting them to speak with hotel staff about safety measures.”We spoke to the people down there, and they said, well, we think you’re OK, we think everything’s OK and we have a shelter prepared,” Jonathan Widich said.Widich said he saw a drone being struck down while he was having a cup of coffee. They also heard the noise coming from the Fairmont Hotel a few miles down the road after it was hit by a strike. The Widiches were set to return home Friday, but their British Airways flight was canceled. They managed to book a tentative flight for Sunday, but that flight, too, has now been canceled.Jonathan Widich said they attempted to contact the State Department for guidance but have not had any success. They are hearing stories of others facing similar issues when trying to reach someone by phone. “For the first several days, apparently, when you punched your way through and finally got your way through the ‘push 1, push 2’ kind of thing, there was no help, basically, at the end of the trail, so it was a little frustrating,” he said.Widich said they are keeping their fingers crossed and will move to “Plan C” if necessary, although they are not yet sure what that would be.
Americans and diplomats have been advised to leave the Middle East, but getting home has been a challenge with canceled flights.
Jonathan and Elaine Widich, from the Pittsburgh suburb of Bethel Park, are stranded in Dubai.
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“We’re not terribly concerned, and we like it here; it’s a nice place, but we would really like to get home,” Jonathan Widich told Carlos Flores, a reporter with sister station WTAE, on Thursday morning.
The couple said they received airstrike alerts on Saturday, prompting them to speak with hotel staff about safety measures.
“We spoke to the people down there, and they said, well, we think you’re OK, we think everything’s OK and we have a shelter prepared,” Jonathan Widich said.
Widich said he saw a drone being struck down while he was having a cup of coffee. They also heard the noise coming from the Fairmont Hotel a few miles down the road after it was hit by a strike.
The Widiches were set to return home Friday, but their British Airways flight was canceled. They managed to book a tentative flight for Sunday, but that flight, too, has now been canceled.
Jonathan Widich said they attempted to contact the State Department for guidance but have not had any success. They are hearing stories of others facing similar issues when trying to reach someone by phone.
“For the first several days, apparently, when you punched your way through and finally got your way through the ‘push 1, push 2’ kind of thing, there was no help, basically, at the end of the trail, so it was a little frustrating,” he said.
Widich said they are keeping their fingers crossed and will move to “Plan C” if necessary, although they are not yet sure what that would be.
