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Twenty-five years ago, planes were diverted when terrorist attacks shut down airspace over North America.
Hundreds of planes were directed to land in Newfoundland and Labrador on Sept. 11, 2001. In response, communities stepped up to fulfill their needs by helping clothe, house and feed thousands of stranded passengers.
The order came down for planes in the sky to land where they could, which prompted people to welcome strangers into their homes, or open up other facilities.
Four people share their memories about the day the world stood still — where they were, what they did and the role they played.
Glenn Stanford
On 9/11, Glenn Stanford was at what was then-known as the Mile One Centre in downtown St. John’s, where he ran the building and the St. John’s Maple Leafs hockey team. They were getting ready to host an NHL training camp but said that they ended up welcoming those in need instead.
He got a call to get the centre ready to house 4,000-5,000 guests, who were dropped off in buses and spent several days there. He added his staff stepped up, going several days working with little sleep.
“As we reflect on the 25th and what Gander did and what St. John’s did, it was pretty remarkable what was pulled off in that time,” said Stanford.
Mac Moss
Mac Moss was a campus administrator for the College of the North Atlantic in Gander at the time of 9/11, and got a call asking him to house hundreds of people. In response, he said the college put together teams to handle things like food preparation, accommodations, administration and cleaning to make the process go smoothly.
In the aftermath, he said some passengers stayed in touch and some have come back to town.
“The American ambassador’s coming here and, you know, he said some nasty things about Canada. But this weekend is not about him… It’s about the people who got killed in New York. And it’s about the kindness of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians,” said Moss.
Larry Pittman
Larry Pittman, who was the airport manager for the Goose Bay airport corporation during 9/11, said the airport received dozens of aircraft and they had to look at old 1940s airfield plans to check their available space and whether it could withstand the weight of the incoming planes.
What sticks with him all these years later is how they had phones available for those stranded so they could contact their homes and check in with loved ones.
“But most of the passengers had no idea what had happened in New York City that day. So myself and several other people were there, from customs to local [Department of National Defence] staff and so forth. We were the ones that were informing them what had happened. ”
Glen Yetman
Glen Yetman was working as air traffic controller in Gander and helped co-ordinate landing planes, and remembers it as a chaotic day.
“We had to reroute them and divert them and try to land them as best we could and get them lined up to land in these new airports. There’s a lot of confusion that day, of course, as congestion on the frequencies was crazy,” he said.
Yetman said colleagues who had the day off came into work to help, adding those on the ground couldn’t know if there was a threat on any of the planes they were communicating with.
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