The airport was created in 1936, and grew within a couple of years to become the largest airport in the world. (It could handle a space shuttle in the day if needed in an emergency.) Gander started to be the favorite location for getting a refill to cross the Atlantic. As you can imagine, that need grew exponentially in 1939, when Great Britain entered World War II. Canada rushed in to help, naturally, and the airlifts passed through Gander into the European Theater. The position of dominance eventually ended, but aviation was and is still important - especially on one particular day.
When planes were hijacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001, the order went out for all planes to be grounded ... as soon as possible. That included the many jets that were flying from Europe to the Western Hemisphere. But where to put them all? Gander's name came up quickly. It had a big airport that wasn't used too much, so it had space to put them somewhere. (Toronto, Montreal and St. John's could be risky.) Authorities didn't know if more terrorists were in those planes, and sending them to bigger airports might lead to major damage in case of an incident.
The planes came in, one after another, bringing more than 6,000 people into the Newfoundland town. That's a lot of company. The planes were placed on runways outside, even though there was a chance that the tarmac could sink if the jets were left there for more than a few days. Security checks had to be done. Gander also had to be ready for defections and other potential international incidents.
The mayor went to work from a Tim Hortons coffee shop, where he heard about the incident. Eventually people came off the plane and were housed and fed in a variety of ways. But all passed the old-time Gander sign on the outside of the terminal, which is shown above.
A visit to Gander almost has to concentrate on those days after 9/11. Our tour guide was around on those days, and even put up a passenger in her house. She showed us playgrounds and sporting fields that were opened to the visitors, and the schools that were used as shelters. It really was a magnificent effort by the citizens under unique circumstances.
Gander retains its aviation ties to this day, as a favored place for emergency landings and military operations. The city could use a little financial help in this area, since the armed forces don't pay for landing fees. But it only takes a short drive down streets named after aviators to realize the connection remains strong.
A visit here was the nicest surprise of our trip to Newfoundland, an emotional detour to one of the few happy stories of 9/11.
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