Gander
| Gander | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Motto : "Volet Gander" | |||
| Location in Newfoundland and Labrador | |||
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| State : |
 Canada
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| Province : | Newfoundland and Labrador | ||
| Region: | Census Division No. 6th | ||
| Coordinates : | 48 ° 57 ′ N , 54 ° 37 ′ W | ||
| Height : | 128 m | ||
| Area : | 104.25 km² | ||
| Residents : | 11,688 (as of 2016) | ||
| Population density : | 112.1 inhabitants / km² | ||
| Time zone : | Newfoundland Time ( UTC − 3: 30 ) | ||
| Postal code : | A1V | ||
| Mayor : | Claude Elliot | ||
| Website : | www.gandercanada.com | ||
Gander is a small town ( Town ) on Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador . It is located on the northeastern shore of the 35 miles long Gander Lake . Today Gander is a regional center. The settlement did not come into being until it was decided to build an airport there. The history of the place is still closely linked to Gander Airport today . The local North Atlantic Aviation Museum is also dedicated to aviation. The population was 11,688 in 2016. 5 years earlier it was 11,054.
history
Gander was founded in June 1936 when workers began to reclaim land on the now-closed Newfoundland Railway and to build an airfield: Their assignment was to build the largest airport in the world, the first and last stopover for the newly emerging transatlantic flights west of the Atlantic should serve. In January 1938 a plane landed for the first time in Gander at Newfoundland Airport .
During the Second World War , in 1941, the airport became the RCAF station Gander , which the RAF Ferry Command primarily used as a stopover for the transfer of US aircraft. Thousands of United States Army Air Forces aircraft took off from there for transfer to Europe. In addition, units for submarine hunting were stationed on Newfoundland . During this time, around 10,000 people lived in barracks at RCAF Station Gander.
After the war, the airport was again taken over by civil authorities. Several airlines began regular flight service via Gander before the end of 1945. At that time, the range of the aircraft was still very limited, so that non-stop flights between the metropolises on both sides of the Atlantic were not possible. In 1958, Gander was re-established in a new location a little further from the airport. The old airport settlement was given up.
At the end of the 1950s, the range of the aircraft increased. The last generation of propeller-driven long-haul aircraft and the new jet aircraft enabled non-stop flights, which reduced Gander's importance as a transatlantic aviation hub . In December 1985 there was a serious plane crash . The Douglas DC-8-63PF , chartered by the US Army to return parts of the 101st Airborne Division from a deployment in Egypt at Arrow Air , crashed on take-off. All inmates, 248 soldiers and the eight crew members were killed.
When the US airspace was closed after the attacks of September 11, 2001 , a total of 39 transatlantic flights were redirected to Gander's airport. In a very short time, more than 6500 “stranded” passengers and crew members had to be accommodated and fed in the city with less than 10,000 inhabitants. According to the statements of the involuntary guests, this was done with incredible hospitality and self-sacrifice. Lufthansa has named one of its planes after the city in honor of this behavior of the citizens .
Web links
- The City website (English)
- The airport website (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Gander, Census 2016 . Statistics Canada. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
- ↑ 15 years after 9/11 - How thousands of airline passengers found refuge in Gander