ABBOTSFORD — Love reached its final destination for a Kamloops man, with the help of a planeload of passengers at the Abbotsford airport last week.
Dan Berg, a finance manager at Dearborn Ford in Kamloops, wanted to set the scene for a proposal that the love of his life, Hanna Dosa, would not soon forget.
The two met a year ago, matched up by a mutual friend, and fell for each other in a big way. Marriage was just a matter of time.
“She bugs me every single day, when am I going to put a ring on her finger?” he told the Times.
Berg already had the engagement ring for three months, and even asked her dad for her hand in marriage, but wanted to make it a real surprise for Dosa.
“I’m going to do this once and once only in my life. I want it to be memorable,” Berg said.
So he came up with a plan that involved WestJet managers, crew and staff at the Abbotsford airport and dozens of passengers.
Berg, 35, told the airline he was flying to Abbotsford from Calgary on Jan. 27 and wanted to give 50 red carnations to willing passengers, who would hand them, one by one to Dosa, who would waiting for him at the terminal.
WestJet embraced the opportunity, and everyone from the airline’s managers to crew to ground staff did their best to help carry out Berg’s scheme.
On the big day, Berg drove from Kamloops to Kelowna, flew to Calgary and then to Abbotsford to make his entrance.
When Berg got on the plane in Calgary, he was introduced to the passengers by a flight attendant, who handed him the public address speaker so he could explain the plan to his fellow passengers.
There were more takers than flowers.
“I couldn’t believe how excited people were to participate. I think every woman on board wanted to take part,” Berg recalled.
Two passengers were recruited to be the first off the plane with flowers when they landed in Abbotsford, one of who memorized Dosa’s face “by looking at my pictures of her on my iPhone,” said Berg.
Meanwhile in Abbotsford, Dosa waited with her son Mason, 2 1/2, who was growing restless as the flight over an hour late.
Finally, the passengers began to disembark. Dozens hurried through the doors, and as arranged, each gave a crimson carnation to Dosa.
Many wished her well, she also got hugs and a couple of kisses.
Dosa’s puzzlement grew into excitement as she realized something was up.
“After I saw all the carnations, and people had tears in their eyes and were saying congratulations, that’s when I started to shake,” she said.
Many passengers, instead of leaving the airport, lingered in the lobby and WestJet’s Abbotsford manager Ryan Hubbard began videotaping the scene.
Finally, Dan came through the doors with a single red rose, kissed Mason, dropped to one knee, pulled out a ring and asked for Dosa’s hand.
Almost speechless, she said yes, and they kissed amid cheers and applause from the crowd.
“We’re totally madly in love,” Hanna said after she collected herself.
“He is the most romantic guy I have ever met.”
Hubbard, WestJet’s video man, was thrilled to be part of such a happy event. It’s something the airline likes to support, he said, there have been 432 marriage proposals onboard their aircraft as of 2010.
Hanna, 32, will soon be discharged after serving 15 years in the Canadian Armed Forces, in the Navy as a leading seaman and currently working as a supply clerk in Chilliwack.
She’s already sold her house and she and Mason will be moving to Kamloops. The couple plan to marry this summer.
See Hubbard’s video of Berg's proposal at bit.ly/zVw4YJ.
