Tie a Yellow Ribbon Around the Ole Maple Leaf Quiz

Answer: Transport Canada

At 09:21 EDT (13:21 UTC) on Tuesday 9th September 2001, 19 minutes after the second plane hit the WTC, Transport Canada, the Canadian federal government transport ministry activated its emergency measures followed immediately by Nav Canada, the Canadian air navigation agency. Nav Canada is a private corporation that owns and operates Canada's civil air navigation system with approximately 1,900 air traffic controllers, and 1350 flight service specialists. At 9.45am EDT the US FAA shut down US airspace causing Transport Canada to do the same. Its situation Center (SitCen) in Ottawa coordinated the operation. This was the first time Canada had shut down its airspace.

At this time around 500 flights were heading for the United States. TC gave Nav Canada permission for those trans-oceanic flights more than halfway to the US to land at the nearest Canadian airport. Planes were arriving in Canadian airspace at somewhere between 1-2 per minute. SitCen staff concentrated on two broad issues - how here to land the aircraft, and how to deplane, and clear between 30-45 thousand passengers through immigration and customs. Somewhere between 224-239 planes landed in 14 Canadian airports that day, mostly on the east coast.

This question was developed by Phoenix Rising team member 1nn1

Answer: Halifax

Under Operation Yellow Ribbon, Incoming US Flights from Europe needed to land at Canadian airports but Transport Canada required Nav Canada to instruct them not to land at Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (Ottawa), Lester B. Pearson International Airport (Toronto), and Dorval International Airport (Montreal) in Montreal as a security precaution. These three airports, along with Vancouver International were the four busiest Canadian airports in 2001. Nearly all of these outbound European flights landed at Halifax (40 flights) or Gander 38 (flights). More affected planes landed in Halifax than anywhere else in Canada.

This question was flown into the quiz by Phoenix Rising team member chiroman

Answer: True

Vancouver International Airport was the only far western Canadian airport large enough (in runway length) to accommodate wide-body airliners from Asia. All together 34 flights landed here with 8500 passengers on board. This was the most passengers on any Canadian landing. Some European flights that flew over the Arctic landed at Winnipeg (15 flights), Edmonton (6), Calgary (13), and Yellowknife (1).

This question was written into the quiz by Phoenix Rising team member JAM6430, who remembers 9/11 all too well.

Answer: NE Newfoundland, about 300 km/186 mi from capital

Gander lies in a remote part of northeastern Newfoundland, on the northeastern shore of Gander Lake, about 310 km (190 mi) northwest of St John's, the provincial capital. The town originally developed around the airport, whose construction started in 1936; in the 1950s, it was rebuilt in a safer location, away from the runways. A Heritage Trail allows visitors to wander among the old buildings of the original settlement. At the time of writing, Gander is home to about 11,000 people. Its motto is "Volet Gander" ("May Gander Soar"), and its coat of arms shows a Canada goose in flight - a reference to both the town's name and its aviation connections.

This soaring question landed into the quiz courtesy of LadyNym.

Answer: Charles Lindbergh was born in Gander.

Charles Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1902, but the other three statements about Gander are all true. Charles Lindbergh is the name of one of Gander's streets, along with Charles Yeager, Eddie Rickenbacker, Amelia Earhart, and many other famous aviators.

The reason Gander was chosen as a location for an airport in the mid-1930s was that its location is along the Great Circle (also called an orthodrome) that provides that shortest-distanced route between New York and London. This location made Gander an important refuelling stop for aircraft traversing the Atlantic Ocean after World War II, earning the town the nickname "Crossroads of the World". During World War II, thousands of allied soldiers resided in Gander, and the strategic location was used by the Royal Air Force as an airbase.

Gander International Airport opened in 1938 as the Newfoundland Airport, and within years the airport boasted four runways. By 1940 it was the largest airport in the world, and the Canadian military changed its name to Gander in 1941.

This question was piloted in by Phoenix Rising team member Rizeeve.

Answer: Airline kitchens immediately volunteered to cook extra meals to feed grounded passengers

September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States saw the closing of airspaces both in that country and in Canada. Operation Yellow Ribbon (French: Opération Ruban Jaune) was the Canadian response, removing potentially threatening air traffic and locating it on the ground at military and civilian airports. Other than military, police and humanitarian flights, all other aircraft were grounded. The official response took time and no one was above suspicion.

Some 38 wide-body jets were sent to Gander International Airport, with about 6,600 passengers and crew involved. Canada's federal and national policing service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP, "Mounties") were involved in checking each aircraft and all available Customs and Immigration staff were summoned to the airport. Nevertheless, in a town and airport much smaller than larger centres, the low number of extra staff meant the act of processing 6,600 Gander visitors was even more prolonged.

Phoenix Rising's psnz rerouted this question into the quiz.

Answer: Come-from-aways

The humanitarian response contrasted with the official one. The people of Gander (population 10,000) opened their hearts and homes to the sudden influx of "come from aways". The town had about 500 hotel beds which were occupied by aircrew. Citizens took passengers into their homes while schools and community venues were turned into dormitories. An overwhelming amount of food and clothing was donated. The visitors were overwhelmed with the kindness of their hosts. When the passengers did eventually get permission to fly onwards to the US, some had made lifelong friends in a remote place they never thought to visit. The visitors stayed six days before they moved on.

Local reaction extended to non-human passengers aboard the many flights. Bonnie Harris was the manager of the Gander and Area SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) during Operation Yellow Ribbon. Realising that there would be some animals aboard the aircraft, Harris contacted airline officials to check flight manifests. It took about 10 hours to visit the 10 cats, nine dogs and two bonobo chimpanzees. Later, all the animals were moved to an airport hangar.

Stunned by the warmth of the reception from locals who would not accept recompense, passengers and aircrew created a scholarship fund for Gander students headed to tertiary education.

Phoenix Rising's psnz was pleased to contribute this heart-warming story to the quiz.

Answer: The town's payroll included full-time professionally-trained crisis managers

Gander's formal disaster plan was developed in 1997 when the province asked municipalities to develop crises/disaster plans. In Gander that included people from the Red Cross, the Department of Social Services, the hospital, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Salvation Army. Because Gander was an aviation town, and had a disproportionate number of flights for its size as trans-Atlantic flights had to refuel before reaching their destination. High fatality plane crashes occurred in 1967 (Czech Airlines) and 1985 (Arrow Air), the latter causing the loss of 228 lives. Gander's history of responding to plane crashes featured heavily on their disaster plan.

Until 1987 Gander was the only international airport in Newfoundland. Whilst refuelling Soviet Bloc passengers would defect en masse, claiming political asylum, sometimes leaving only the flight crew. The trickle of defectors in the late 70s were housed in hotels until their refugee hearings could take place. However with the flood of defectors in the 80s, the town sourced the province for schools, churches, town halls, fire houses and other community facilities that could house those claiming asylum.

The Y2K plan implemented just before 2000 meant Gander already knew how to park 50 planes safely around the airport. So when 9/11 occurred Gander was uniquely prepared for an event that the rest of world looked on in sheer disbelief while the Gander people just got on with the job, unfazed and calm.

This question was prepared and organised for this quiz by Phoenix Rising team member 1nn1.

Answer: Jean Chretien, the Prime Minister of Canada

One year after the attacks on September 11, 2002, over 2000 people descended on Gander International Airport for Canada's memorial service to mark the first anniversary. The gathering was presided over by Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretian and included the United States Ambassador to Canada, Paul Cellucci; Canadian Minister for Transport David Collenette; Governor General Adrienne Clarkson and her husband as well as many of the Gander residents who made over 6000 passengers feel at home.

Mr Chretien in his address said "9/11 will live long in memory as a day of terror and grief. But thanks to the countless acts of kindness and compassion done for those stranded visitors here in Gander and right across Canada it will live forever in memory as a day of comfort and of healing". His closing remarks commended Operation Yellow Ribbon, "You did yourselves proud, ladies and gentlemen, and you did Canada proud." Gary Doer, Premier of Manitoba in 2001, recalled in 2011 when he was Canada's top diplomat in the US, "We got part of the twisted wreckage of the towers moved to the Peace Garden between North Dakota and Manitoba, with the name of every victim inscribed, and we continue to have a memorial commemoration every year."

This question was celebrated by Phoenix Rising team member 1nn1.

Answer: "Come from Away"

Written by Canadian composers and librettists Irene Sankoff and David Hein, "Come from Away" was set in the week that followed the tragic events of 11 September 2001, and narrates the true story of the town's role in Operation Yellow Ribbon. The musical was first produced in 2013 at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, with subsequent runs in various locations in Canada and the US. In 2017 it opened on Broadway, where it became a critical and box office success; in 2018 and 2019 it was also performed in Dublin and London. Nominated for seven awards at the 71st edition of the Tony Awards in 2917, the musical won the Best Direction award for Christopher Ashley.

Most of the characters in "Come from Away" are based on real people, both Gander residents and some of the 7,000 stranded passengers who were welcomed with kindness and helped through those traumatic days. A film comprising a live recording of the musical was released on 10 September 2021, one day before the 20th anniversary of the attacks; the overwhelmingly positive critical reception emphasized the film's message of hope and healing in the face of tragedy.

"Diverted" (a 2009 TV miniseries) and "You Are Here" (a 2018 documentary film) are also based on the events that transpired in Gander during the 9/11 attacks. The name "Gander-Halifax" was given in 2002 by German airline Lufthansa to Airbus A340 D-AIFC as a gesture of gratitude towards the two airports where the airline's planes were redirected when the US airspace was closed.

This question was sung and danced by LadyNym, who is always glad to be reminded that human beings can be kind to each other