Gander, Newfoundland: How a Town of 12,000 Sheltered 7,000 Stranded Travelers on 9/11

POLICY WIRE — Gander, Canada — When U.S. airspace closed on September 11, 2001, the remote Newfoundland town of Gander—home to roughly 12,000 residents—suddenly became the closest safe landing point for transatlantic flights mid-journey.

By day’s end, 38 commercial aircraft carrying approximately 7,000 passengers and crew had landed at Gander International Airport. There was no pre-existing plan for such an influx. Former Mayor Claude Elliott confirmed: None existed. Municipal emergency protocols covered fires or floods—not mass international displacement lasting four or five days.

With flights grounded indefinitely, Elliott declared a state of emergency. Churches, schools, and even the local hockey rink were converted into shelters. Volunteers stacked truckloads of donated food on the rink’s ice surface to keep it cool—a makeshift walk-in refrigerator serving hundreds daily.

Residents called the arrivals the “plane people.” Offers of help flooded in from every corner of the community. Elliott credited Gander’s greatest resource as its people—and said everyone showed up without hesitation.

Beulah Cooper, a longtime Gander resident and Royal Canadian Legion volunteer, housed, fed, and shuttled passengers from an Aer Lingus flight. Her home welcomed stranded travelers for showers and overnight stays. She recalled the deep personal resonance of service: Oh, my gosh, it does so good in here [tapping her chest] to know that you’re doing something to help somebody. And that is what I’m all about anyway.

Cooper’s compassion helped shape one of the central characters in the Broadway musical Come From Away, which premiered in 2017. Elliott admitted he initially struggled to imagine how sandwiches, soup, blankets, and pillows could become theatrical material—especially since he had never seen a musical before.

The show went on to win a Tony Award, tour globally, and convert Elliott into a devoted fan—he has watched it 139 times across six countries: Canada, the United States, Australia, London, Madrid, Spain, and New Zealand. Most recently, it returned home: a professional production ran this summer at Gander’s arts center, featuring Newfoundland-born actors—including Peter Halley of St. John’s—in authentic local roles.

The title Come From Away reflects a traditional Newfoundland expression for visitors. As Halley explained, You’re just coming to see us and to experience the province, and you are from away. So, ‘CFA’ is just an expression that I think I’ve known forever.

Today, Gander welcomes far more visitors thanks to the musical’s reach. Its aviation museum displays heartfelt thank-you notes from passengers, and Twin Towers steel beams now rest in town. The Royal Canadian Legion hosts regular “screech-ins”—a ritual featured in the show where tourists become honorary Newfoundlanders by drinking rum and kissing a cod.

Cooper remains a fixture at these events, still bemused by the emotional outpouring: All they want, ‘I gotta hug Beulah. I gotta hug Beulah,’ and the tears running down their face. And I thought, ‘Take it easy. it is only me!’

The musical deliberately calls itself a 9/12 musical, spotlighting not the horror of the attacks—but the humanity that followed. As Cooper put it plainly: You talk to people like you like to be spoken to, and you treat people like you like to be treated. And if you see somebody that needs help, if you can help them, you better do that.

Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)