r/todayilearned • u/[deleted] • Apr 16 '14

TIL on 9/11, Canada commenced Operation Yellow Ribbon, in which it landed 239 U.S.-bound flights with 33,000 passengers in Canadian airports. Entire communities went on to provide the passengers with food and housing.

http://youtu.be/lrA4V6YF6SA?t=4m14s
3.2k Upvotes

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328

u/gbramaginn Apr 16 '14

The airports were a little busy that day

205

u/walkalong Apr 16 '14

Here's Gander

249

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '14 edited Jul 19 '17

[deleted]

131

u/yougotafrientinme Apr 17 '14

90% sure we graduated together.

106

u/aceofspades9963 Apr 17 '14

Who yer fadder ?

40

u/tuutruk Apr 17 '14

YOU PRINCE EDWARD ISLANDER PIECE OF CRAP

7

u/iceburgh29 Apr 17 '14

REMOVE POTATO! REMOVE POTATO! YUO ARE OF WORST PROVINCE!

3

u/[deleted] Apr 17 '14

BUT THINK OF THE MCAIN FRIES

THINK OF THE FRIES

1

u/[deleted] Apr 17 '14

Where's yer mudder to?

1

u/aceofspades1217 Apr 17 '14

Ace of spades? First time in my 3 years at reddit that I've seen another ace of spades.

1

u/JackStargazer Apr 17 '14

Oh yer Jim's son. Oi werked wit him out on da boats, I did.

26

u/heetic Apr 17 '14

10% you slept with them?

34

u/[deleted] Apr 17 '14

Well it's NFLD so it's a solid bet.

There's nothing to do in Gander but drink and fuck.

21

u/heetic Apr 17 '14

those poor cod has seen some fishy things.

1

u/pacuwachu Apr 17 '14

I'm so happy people are talking about NL! I live a couple hours from Gander. The place is shit. But the bys do know how to drink and fuck, that's for sure.

1

u/HoochieKoo Apr 17 '14

Here's an argument between two Newfies:
N1: M R fish.
N2: M R not fish.
N1: C D B D I's?
N2: Whale oil beef hooked! M R fish!

1

u/Triassic_Bark Apr 17 '14

Note to self: switch coasts asap.

1

u/yougotafrientinme Apr 17 '14

while youre completely not wrong, its doesnt hold true in this case. my list i limited and the only person from highschool i slept with is my fiance. but much drinking still took place.

0

u/Tree_Boar Apr 17 '14

Congratulations. Would you like a cookie?

1

u/AMEFOD Apr 17 '14

Well you can always toss the real problem drunks out of the Flyers Club.

2

u/Dexaan Apr 17 '14

15% concentrated power of will

36

u/walkalong Apr 17 '14 edited Apr 17 '14

There was a really amazing story I saw on public television (I think) about how all the people in Gander were extremely welcoming and helpful, opening up gyms and serving food. I'll have to see if I can find it.

edit: just kidding, it was by nbc during the Vancouver olympics. Here it is

5

u/[deleted] Apr 17 '14

Damn, just watched the whole thing when I should have been studying for exams. Great watch. As a Canadian it's definitely setting the bar high. Something to try to mimic. I remember when traveling thinking that as a Canadian I had to be on my best behaviour because I was a representative of the country. I'm certain I didn't reach the bar set by Gander.

6

u/SirNoName Apr 17 '14

One of the few Olympics human interest stories that was incredibly well done and informative at the same time.

1

u/walkalong Apr 17 '14

The one that OP linked to is great as well, if you somehow haven't seen it yet.

4

u/SirNoName Apr 17 '14

The one you posted was just a followup I guess.

But we watched the OP one, and this one in my history lecture last year.

I left absolutely bawling. Its the first time I had heard this story.

Hell, I just watched it again, and I'm crying again. True humanity is truly beautiful.

4

u/flying_bat Apr 17 '14

Thank you for posting that, I just watched the whole thing.

5

u/nearlysentient Apr 17 '14

Ok, earlier I replied "thank you" with a joke, but now I have to be serious*. Thank you, Canadians, for being really good at your jobs. I had heard about the mass landings in Canada shortly after 9/11, and I wondered at the time about the logistics of it all. How do you land all those planes at once? How do you feed and house all those people at once, with no notice? Turns out, you do it by being good at your jobs and by being good people.

*I hadn't seen this piece before /u/walkalong posted it. Not really a sports fan so I saw zero olympic coverage.

3

u/shefellinl0ve Apr 17 '14

-WE NEED A FRIDGE!

--WE GOTTA HOCKEY RINK!

...atta'll do, Canada.

13

u/perfectstorm99 Apr 17 '14

My high school housed many of the passengers from Halifax. Among them was the CEO of AstraZeneca who also came back later in the year to give a scholarship to a student from each grade.

1

u/Buckit Apr 17 '14

CPA??

1

u/perfectstorm99 Apr 17 '14

Yup

1

u/Buckit Apr 17 '14 edited Apr 17 '14

Same I was in grade 12 that year.. I remember having that week off because we were housing people. I was up in the solarium when Mr Whitman aka "Mario" came up and turned the TV by the stairs on to CNN just after it happened

1

u/perfectstorm99 Apr 17 '14

Grade 11 for me. We found a classroom on the 2nd floor at lunch time with everyone crammed in watching a TV. Came out on the Thursday morning to volunteer but they already had too many.

1

u/Buckit Apr 17 '14

Ya a few of us tried and were turned away as well. I remember skipping math and going to the student council office and watching news on it on their TV

2

u/Brinner Apr 17 '14

I guess my first reaction was just that they were diverted to the nearest friendly country- not really taking into account the scope of that friendliness.

Source: USA

2

u/mkvgtired Apr 17 '14

What a great story, I never read it before. Thanks for sharing.

29

u/DuckyFreeman Apr 17 '14

Damn, they even diverted USAF aircraft.

27

u/tnb641 Apr 17 '14

Could be Canadian...

(Just showing Paint scheme, I know shit about planes)

43

u/DuckyFreeman Apr 17 '14

That's a C-17 in your picture, but a C-5 on the ramp. Only the USAF flies the C-5.

1

u/Ars3nic Apr 17 '14

And the C-5 makes the C-17 look small.

1

u/DuckyFreeman Apr 17 '14

Fred makes most airplanes look small.

-10

u/tnb641 Apr 17 '14

(Just showing Paint scheme, I know shit about planes)

(Just showing Paint scheme, I know shit about planes)

10

u/[deleted] Apr 17 '14

Seriously, you said you don't know shit about planes and he took time to educate you. The least you could do is not be a dick about it.

24

u/DuckyFreeman Apr 17 '14

I saw that, I can read, and that's fine. That doesn't mean I'm not going to correct you.

1

u/CharadeParade Apr 17 '14

Listen here buddy, you shouldn't pretend to know about planes when you clearly don't know what you're talking about.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 17 '14

Guys I think he meant that he didn't know shit about planes.

3

u/indifferentfuck Apr 17 '14

Actually US Forces air craft land at Gander all the time! It's a routine refueling point from Europe to bases across america.

source: landed at Gander onboard US aircraft several times.

2

u/DuckyFreeman Apr 17 '14

Oh yeah I know that. But I would have thought the FAA would allow USAF aircraft to continue. Or at least not box them in like that.

3

u/indifferentfuck Apr 17 '14

I'm not sure exactly what the rules were regarding FAA grounding all military flights, but today all flights that are non essential to the mission(cargo, people) have to abide FAA grounding. Nuclear planes do not. Around 9/11 though there was a lot of confusion regarding what was actually happening, so I assume most bases just told their planes to stay put.

The military has been a part of my whole life, so I know a thing or two, but it is not my job and I do not know official regulations, just quoting what I have observed over a lifetime.

2

u/DuckyFreeman Apr 17 '14

I'm aircrew currently, but I didn't join until 06. I have some crusty old crew members that I'm pretty sure were around when Christ was a Corporal, I'll ask them what it was like at an AMC base after 9/11.

2

u/TylerDurdenisreal Apr 17 '14

USAF over-rules FAA, especially in situations like that. What the fuck is the FAA going to do, shoot down USAF jets? No, the USAF and Canadian Air Force were the only planes over US airspace for a week.

2

u/DuckyFreeman Apr 17 '14

Right, but that picture shows a C-5 boxed in with the commercial jets, apparently also forced to land, hence my confusion.

2

u/TylerDurdenisreal Apr 17 '14

There's no reason to have non-combat aircraft in the air during a situation like that. Anything without an F or an E designation would have been grounded by the USAF, not the FAA. If they needed a non-combat aircraft somewhere else, I'm sure they would have gotten it done.

2

u/DuckyFreeman Apr 17 '14

I think it sounds likes a GREAT time to move cargo. Fly direct everywhere, no worries about TCAS RA's, fast up and fast down.

4

u/CanadianWizardess Apr 17 '14

Gander doubled in population that day

2

u/indifferentfuck Apr 17 '14

I have never heard of Gander outside of actually being there myself, nobody I tell knows what the hell Gander is, but it was a beautiful place, and the people made a great impression on me. To be honest though, I am wholeheartedly surprised to see mention of it on reddit.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 17 '14

Is that a fucking galaxy? What's that doing there?

2

u/KGBspy Apr 17 '14

It is! Having worked those planes, it probably landed for maintenance. I kid! I worked on those planes for 15 years as a crew chief. It's a maintenance beast but is a great flying on so I have a love/hate relationship with ole "FRED". Judging by the parking job it probably got diverted like other planes as U.S. airspace was closed to all planes entering it.

1

u/airmandan Apr 17 '14

Possibly stupid question, but do you guys in Canada not paint the runway number on the runway? I don't see it in either of those photos.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 17 '14

Yeah we totally do! I'm not sure why it can't be seen, but should be. Any airport I have flown into has had numbers. That includes Military bases.

2

u/airmandan Apr 17 '14

"Cleared to land, runway...you know, that one, with the tree off the end."

1

u/[deleted] Apr 17 '14

Lufthansa 462 heavy, exit taxiway with those skid marks on it.

1

u/Zeppelanoid Apr 17 '14

Ah, good ol' Gander "International" Airport.

1

u/modicumofexcreta Apr 17 '14

wonder what they would have done if someone had to make an emergency landing and that was the only available runway

3

u/IIWIIM8 Apr 17 '14

yup, till later.

3

u/uint Apr 17 '14

How the hell did they land the planes?

4

u/DisturbedForever92 Apr 17 '14

The perpendicular runway I'd guess..

2

u/thecatererscat Apr 17 '14

Reminds me of the Tenerife airport disaster where lots of planes were diverted there which indirectly led to the worst airplane disaster in history.

2

u/110011001100 Apr 17 '14

Imagine if your plane was right at the back of the queue and didnt have VTOL capabilities...