Gander residents and volunteer drivers Dean Small, Samantha Barnes, Barbara Tibbo and Eddie Freake – credit, submitted by Eddie Freake.
When an Air Canada flight from Montreal to St. Johns was forced down on the tarmac in a small city during bad weather last week, the passengers were probably cursing their luck.
But that’s only because they didn’t know at the time where they had landed.
Gander, Newfoundland, has a history of showing up to stranded passengers in need, although it’s been 25 years since it was last called into action.
Following the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, flights across North America were grounded. Those who happened to be grounded in Gander were helped into the town’s hotels by a small army of volunteers showing up to the international airport to drive them there.
The story made international headlines at the time, and even manifested in a Broadway production, Come From Away. Now, 25-year later, the people of Gander are living up to that reputation.
An international flight crew stranded at Gander, pose with local ground crew on September 11th, 2001 – credit, Town of Gander
The flight to St. Johns was grounded due to freezing rain across its Ottawa flight path, and after spending more than an hour on the tarmac, the passengers were told they’d be staying in Gander.
With only a small number of taxis at the airport, the assistant manager of Quality Hotel and Suites posted on the Gander Connect Facebook page that, once again, their countrymen needed them.
“Locals were coming in their cars and in the taxis that weren’t being used to come and shuttle us to the hotel,” said Monet, a St. Johns resident stranded in Gander to VOCM.
“There’s probably about 150-200 of us, maybe even more, and you know, it was like experiencing Come From Away all over again. It’s nice to know that the heart of the community is the same.”
But that was only half of the spectacle. The following morning, each of the passengers naturally needed a lift back to the airport.
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Reports say that before they could even finish their continental breakfast, there were lines of volunteers outside the hotels waiting to chauffer the misfortunate visitors back to the airport.
It shows what’s possible—whether for a person, or a whole community—when they’re called to uphold a reputation for kindness. Would that we all have the chance.
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