Photo by Pat Butler
The safe landing of thousands depended on the cool heads of just a few landing of thousands depended on the cool heads of just a fe
The tall, silver-haired speaker was greeted with warm applause by all 37 McCarthy’s Party tour members. On September 10, 2024, we’d crowded into a conference room in Gander, Newfoundland to hear from now-retired Air Traffic Controller Patrick Woodford. On September 11, 2001, he was an
air-traffic controller at Gander Airport, so to hear him recount his role on that fateful day would be enthralling. On the eve of its 23rd anniversary, no less.
FAA Issued a Directive
Beforehand, our guide told us that 13,500 airplane passengers had been diverted to Newfoundland: 27 planes to St.John’s, 38 planes to Gander. From 5,000 to 8,000 volunteers had helped “plane people” and served 250,000 meals in 5 days. Patrick would fill in some blanks for us.
Gander Airport was opened in 1938 - extensive runways were built first, then the airport, and then the town of Gander. Being the closest point in North America to Europe, it was chosen as a refueling stop,
and to this day Gander-based air traffic controllers manage all flights across the North Atlantic.
The first sign that something abnormal was happening was when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sent a message to Transport Canada stating, “Due to extraordinary circumstances….all airports/airdromes are not authorized for landing and takeoff.” Then Transport Canada announced
something like, “No civilian aircraft are allowed to take off and all aircraft in flight are ordered to land…” No reason for either was given - no mention of the World Trade Center collisions.
Controllers Take Over
So, the Gander controllers on duty began telling flights from Europe headed to North America to land in Gander, or other airports along the eastern seaboard. Gander was on the flight path of many of these aircraft. Newfoundland was located halfway (or less) along many planes’ flight paths, so they were still carrying huge amounts of fuel. Consider a plane flying from London, England to San Francisco. If any landed with nearly full tanks their tires could have blown out and they would have exploded! Therefore, pilots were told to dump fuel over the ocean first.
Picturing the controllers commanding such a high stakes procedure, while staying calm and managing stress gives me goosebumps. Each member of the tour could recall their own 9-11 experiences, but none of us were directly responsible for the physical safety of thousands of other people.
The first plane landed at Gander at about noon; the last at about 2:30 pm, so in a mere 2.5 hours all 38 were coordinated to land and park on the tarmac. When instructing each pilot to dump fuel, the controller had to picture both the horizontal position and the vertical position - in 1000-foot
layers. Dumping fuel on a hot plane below would have been disastrous. Visualize one half of a three-dimensional chess board, with all pieces moving in the same direction.
Only one pilot questioned the instructions to land. Flying a private jet, he responded, “We have a VIP on board. We are continuing to New York.” The controller answered, “If you do so, you will be shot down.”
The plane landed at Gander.
Once each plane was safely on the ground, passengers were not permitted to deplane until they could be cleared by Canadian Customs – a very slow process as Gander is a tiny airport. There might have been more terrorists, after all. All luggage had to be left on each plane. Some passengers had to stay on the plane for 30 hours! Citizens of 90 countries made up the total number of 6,122 plane people and 473 crew members. Gander contained only 456 hotel rooms that day, so creative solutions were vital.
Posted at Gander Airport: “All of a sudden you have this enormous task on your doorstep. You have to cope with it. You can’t turn around and go home.” - Don O’Brien, Nav Canada
Caring for the Displaced
Patrick was also a Disaster Manager with the Canadian Red Cross and Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus, so once all the planes were safely grounded, he turned his attention to caring for people whose lives were in limbo. Cots provided by the military were set up in empty facilities like bingo halls and churches. Pharmacists worked around the clock, checking with passengers’ home pharmacies before refilling prescriptions. Gander citizens invited plane people to come and shower in their homes.
Posted at Gander Airport: “There were all these people. Foreigners from 90 nations. Strangers. Potentially other terrorists. They didn’t have to let us in. But they did.” - Kevin Tuerff, passenger
Beverly Bass was the pilot of American Airlines 49. Beingthe first ever female American pilot, she is featured in the acclaimed musical about the Gander response, “Come From Away.” Patrick connected with her, and they remain friends.
Posted at Gander Airport: “On the first day we had 7000 strangers. On the third day we had 7000 friends. On the fifth day we had 7000 family members.” - Claude Elliott, Former Mayor of Gander
After he finished speaking, our group gave Patrick a standing ovation. I’d previously known about the kind welcome-on-the-ground provided by a town of only 11,254 souls but hearing about the air-traffic
controllers’ heroism brought tears to my eyes.
What a privilege to hear this remarkable story from a remarkable human being - in the Canadian town where it all happened.