Patriot Day

This year, and as we don't live in the US (though it is only 500 yards away). We thought we would talk abouthow 9/11 affected Canada.

 

The September 11 attacks resulted in the deaths of 2,996 people, including 2,977 victims and 19 hijackers. 29 of the victims were Canadians. 

Within 18 minutes of the attacks on the World Trade Center, Transport Canada and Nav Canada activated emergency measures, the SitCen (Transport Canada's emergency center in BC) was on line to maintain contact to other members of the Canadian aviation community, such as the Air Transport Association of Canada and local airport authorities and their counterparts in the FAA (United States) and other international civil aviation authorities were connected in. 

At 9:45 a.m. (Eastern Time), one hour after the first passenger airline flew into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered all civilian aircraft to land. The National Airspace System was officially shut down at 11:06 a.m. 

Canada was already, ready and diverting aircraft to land at airports in Canada. Canada's goal was to ensure that potentially destructive air traffic be removed from United States airspace as quickly as possible, and away from potential U.S. targets, and to instead place these aircraft on the ground in Canada, at military and civilian airports primarily in the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and British Columbia. 

 

Transport Canada says 224 flights carrying 33,000 passengers landed on Canadian soil. Flights originating from Asia were diverted to Vancouver and other airports in western Canada, while planes on the busy transatlantic route were diverted to airports in Atlantic Canada.

Halifax International Airport received the largest number of flights (47 planes carrying more than 7,000 passengers), while Vancouver International Airport received the highest number of passengers (34 planes carrying 8,500 passengers). 

Diverted Aircraft at Halifax Stanfield International Airport on September 11, 2001

 

Dealing with thousands of unexpected visitors proved to be a major challenge. With security concerns paramount, each plane had to be searched and every passenger screened. Some were forced to remain on the tarmac at various airports for more than 24 hours. Once screened, the passengers needed to be housed and fed. Local officials, charitable organizations and volunteers scrambled to find schools and community halls, beds and blankets, and food and coffee for thousands of stranded passengers.

Nowhere was that challenge greater than in Gander, Newfoundland, where 37 flights were diverted to the town’s airport. The community of less than 10,000 people suddenly had to find shelter and food for 6,700 people. School bus drivers who were on strike left their picket lines in order to provide transportation to area schools and halls. Medical prescriptions were filled by pharmacies at no cost, and people opened their homes to passengers in need of a coffee or a shower.

 

Alan Flood, of Bristol, England, who was stranded with his wife, Barbara, summed up the feelings of hundreds of passengers when he said, “We were strangers. They didn’t know what we were like. They took us to their homes, made sure we wanted for nothing, treated us as part of the family.”

Shirley Brook-Jones and the passengers from her flight were cared for in the nearby community of Lewisporte, Newfoundland. On their flight home six days later, Brook-Jones suggested to passengers that they should start a scholarship for local students as a way to thank the community. By the time the plane landed in Atlanta, passengers had pledged $15,000. Word spread and the fund grew. By 2014, the fund had committed $1.5 million and awarded more than 130 scholarships to students in Newfoundland.

 

  

After the 2001 terror attacks on the United States, Canada joined an international coalition to destroy the al-Qaeda terrorist network and the Taliban regime that sheltered it in Afghanistan. Although the Taliban were removed from power and the al-Qaeda network was disrupted, Canada and its allies failed to destroy either group, or to secure and stabilize Afghanistan. More than 40,000 Canadian Armed Forces members served in the 12-year campaign. The war killed 165 Canadians — 158 soldiers and 7 civilians. Many Canadian veterans of the war in Afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.