Officials remember the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 when they learned Gander would play a significant role in one of the biggest global events in history
The sun rose above the eastern horizon on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 in much the same way it had every other day. There was nothing spectacular or unusual about that morning, save except perhaps for the fact it was a warm and clear day, a little uncommon for that time of year in Newfoundland. In Gander, Mayor Claude Elliott did what he normally does first thing in the morning.
"I was at Tim Horton's," said Mayor Elliott. "We were getting our fix, as we always did every morning."
As expected, the coffee shop was full of local residents either heading to work or taking an early break in the day. Chatter focused on local issues and news but then word started to spread among the crowd something bad had happened in the United States.
"We started hearing reports an airplane had crashed into one of the (World Trade Centre) towers in New York," said Mayor Elliott. "At first, no one really knew how serious it was or what was going on."
Mayor Elliott got in his car and drove to his home on Elizabeth Drive. Once inside, he did what millions of people around the world were doing at the exact same time — he turned on his television.
"That's when I started to realize a second plane had hit the other tower," he said. "And then they said a plane hit the Pentagon. It was obvious these were not accidents. All I could think about was, 'How many people are in those towers?'"
Kilometres away
Four provinces and 2,200 kilometres away at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Que., Gary Vey was having breakfast with colleagues from within the North American aviation industry.
The president and CEO of the Gander International Airport Authority had a similar reaction to Mayor Elliott upon hearing about what would later become clear was a calculated terrorist attack on the U.S., but there was little time to let that knowledge sink in.
Everyone in attendance at the Montreal convention had some sort of connection to an airport and the aviation industry, and all of them needed to get home right away.
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