OT: Thanks Again to Gander & all of Canada

Posted by Tia Mary on September 11, 2005, 10:33 pm

Hi Guys,
I just finished watching several specials about 9/11. The last one
was about having to ground all of the airplanes. It reminded me that
hundreds of the planes had to go to Gander and other places in Canada.
The Gander ATC personnel are unsung heroes as are the personnel at that
airport. The show said that there were something like 240 airplanes
safely landed and parked at Gander in about 2 hours -- a phenomenal feat
for a small airport.
The other thing I had totally forgotten was the Korean Air passenger
jet that was headed to Alaska -- Anchorage, I think. The pilot kept
sending the code for hijacking and the officials didn't know WHAT was
going on. The pilot spoke very broken English yet he responded
correctly to all commands from the ATC. Because it was feared the plane
had been hijacked, was running low on fuel and it was proving near
impossible to evacuate the large destination city, the plane was
diverted to Whitehorse in Canada. Again the Canadians came to our aid
and accepted a potentially hijacked airplane at their airport --
something that could have been disastrous for that small town. Also,
even tho' the runway was more than long enough, it wasn't wide enough
for one of the big jets and it was feared that debris kicked up from the
sides of the runway on landing might be sucked into the engines and
cause a catastrophic accident on the ground! But the small Canadian
town accepted hand off of the suspect jet which was thankfully just a
regular plane load of passengers.
On this fourth anniversary of the disasters on 9/11, I want to make
sure that the Canadians -- especially the airport personnel at Gander
-- are properly thanked for the care and kindness they showed the USA,
our citizens (both stranded in Canada and here at home) and the other
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--
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Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their whiskers!
Visit my Photo albums at http://community.webshots.com/user/tiamary

Posted by F.James Cripwell on September 12, 2005, 7:08 am

Tia Mary (CatWom7711@aol.com) writes:
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(snip)
Thanks Tia Mary. Another aspect of this story was at St. John's
Newfoundland. They may have had only 29 aircraft land there, but it
overwhelmed the airport, hotels etc. However, for people outside Canada
who do not understand Newfies, you have to realize that in that part of
the world, anything is an excuse for a party, and 9/11 was no different
from any other reason. They opened up their homes, and partied in St.
John's as long as they had visitors. I think I am right in saying that on
the first anniversary of 9/11, three charter planes flew back into St.
John's to renew aquaintencies; the only place this happened in Canada.
One of the requirements of air safety is that when a plane lands, it
cannot take off until it has had the proper inspection. St. John's
airport simply did not have the equipment or expertise to inspect the
variety of aircraft which landed there, and over the next week or so,
these had to be flown in, causing long delays. It was said that Newfie
hospitality made the lives of the visitors quite tolerable.

--
Jim Cripwell. A volante tribe of bards on earth are found,/ who, while the
flattering zephyrs round them play,/ on "coignes of vantage" build their nests
of clay;/ how quickly from that aery hold unbound,/ dust for oblivion!/ To
the solid ground/ of nature trusts the mind that builds for aye. Wordsworth.

Posted by Tia Mary on September 12, 2005, 7:28 am

F.James Cripwell wrote:
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The story last evening did mention St. John's and even showed film of
the locals feeding the stranded passengers -- in their homes too :-). I
should have been more observant and mentioned them by name. I couldn't
remember the number of planes they had accepted but the story did say
that the little airport was overwhelmed.
A question for you -- is it St. John's or Gander (or maybe both
airports) that is equipped to handle the Space Shuttle if needed? I had
forgotten that there was an alternate Space Shuttle landing facility in
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--
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Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their whiskers!
Visit my Photo albums at http://community.webshots.com/user/tiamary

Posted by F.James Cripwell on September 12, 2005, 12:17 pm

Tia Mary (CatWom7711@aol.com) writes:
(snip)
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I did not know either were possibilities, but if they are, then it has
to be Gander. The two airports are completely and utterly different. St.
John's is a small airport, serving a small city. In the years after WWII,
aircraft had limited range, and had to take the shortest route from Europe
to N. America. The two terminals were Shannon, Ireland, and Gander,
Newfoundland. I do not know what has happened to Shannon, but Gander is a
major airport for international airlines to use for refuelling. It
handles a huge number of transient passengers each year; hardly any local
traffic. The Russians used to, and I suspect still do, use it when they
fly to Cuba. So it probably has the runways to accomodate the space
shuttle. It could also handle any type of aircraft diverted to it during
9/11, and doubtless had them all turned around and off to their
destinations in less than 48 hours. Unlike St. John's where,
(exaggerating), if it is not a Boeing 737, it cannot be given routine
maintenance. HTH.
--
Jim Cripwell. A volante tribe of bards on earth are found,/ who, while the
flattering zephyrs round them play,/ on "coignes of vantage" build their nests
of clay;/ how quickly from that aery hold unbound,/ dust for oblivion!/ To
the solid ground/ of nature trusts the mind that builds for aye. Wordsworth.

Posted by Jan Lennie on September 12, 2005, 2:05 pm

Here's Shannon Airport's website Jim
http://www.shannonairport.com/AR_Shannon/live/Lv_pres_GenTemplate.asp?strPage_Name=SN_Welcome
Jan
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