Operation Yellow Ribbon
The Operation Yellow Ribbon was from Canada conducted numerous during the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 to cope to Canada diverted flights. Canada's goal was to be able to remove potentially dangerous aircraft from American airspace as quickly as possible. You should land at Canadian civil and military airports primarily in the provinces of Nova Scotia , Newfoundland and Labrador, and British Columbia (and also some in New Brunswick , Alberta , Manitoba , Ontario, and Québec ). There their potential destructive power could have been better controlled. However, in the end, none of the aircraft posed any danger. So it was also a feat of strength to be able to accommodate the numerous passengers stranded in Canada.
Canada began operations after the FAA grounded all aircraft in American airspace. The FAA worked closely with the Canadian Transportation Authority to divert incoming intercontinental and transcontinental flights to Canada.
During the operation, all flights except those of the police, the military and humanitarian flights were canceled. Thus, the Canadian airspace was closed for the first time.
The result of the operation was 255 flights diverted to 17 different airports.
Use of rescue measures
Immediately after the World Trade Center attacks , Transport Canada and Nav Canada began their emergency response.
Transport Canada
Transport Canada started their Situation Center (SitCen) at 09:21 local time (13:21 UTC ). The SitCen is Transport Canada's emergency operations center, which was actually set up to deal with earthquakes along Canada's west coast. It has been used several times, for example during the devastating ice and snow storms in Ontario and Quebec in 1998 or after the crash of Swissair Flight 111 near Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia . The personnel stationed at the SitCen came from Transport Canada, Nav Canada , the Department of National Defense , the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Canadian Security Intelligence Service , the Department of Citizenship and Immigration (CIC) and the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA).
One of the tasks of the SitCen was to maintain contact with other Canadian aviation authorities, such as the Air Transport Association of Canada and the local airport authorities. In addition, the worldwide aviation authorities were kept up to date.
Nav Canada opened two command centers, the Strategic Command Center (SCC) and the Tactical Command Center (TCC) .
Located in Ottawa , the SCC was headed by Andy Vasarins, took overall control of the operation and made sure that the TCC and other authorities involved were informed.
The TCC was located in Cornwall, Ontario and was headed by Kathy Fox. The tasks included disseminating information between the airports and the air traffic control authorities.
The operation
The operation officially began at 09:45 am local time (13:45 UTC) when American airspace was closed.
Transport Canada Actions
After the American airspace was closed, the Canadian Minister of Transport David Collenette decreed that all Canadian flights were only allowed for departing police, military and humanitarian flights, as well as for flights to the USA that were diverted to Canadian airports. For the first time in history, Canadian airspace was closed.
At the time of the attacks, around 500 flights were on the way to the USA. Transport Canada instructed Nav Canada to allow flights that had traveled at least half the distance to land at the nearest Canadian airport. This was made dependent on the kerosene level and the place of departure. One or two aircraft per minute reached Canadian airspace.
During the operation, the SitCen focused on the task of finding suitable airports for the aircraft and how to search the passengers as quickly as possible and clear all of them through customs. The CIC and the CCRA transferred additional staff to the affected airports.
The first airport to accept diverted flights was CFB Goose Bay , which housed seven aircraft. Another 14 Canadian airports took up the remaining diverted flights.
Transatlantic flights
The operation was a major challenge for all airports on or near Canada's east coast. Transport Canada instructed Nav Canada not to reroute flights to Macdonald-Cartier in Ottawa , Lester B. Pearson in Toronto and Pierre Elliott Trudeau in Montreal if possible as an added security measure as they are among the largest airports in the country or capital . In the end, however, this was not possible. Most transatlantic flights have been diverted to airports near the coast; however, some ended up in Toronto and Montreal as well.
The Gander International Airport which is the nearest airport for flights of Europe, took on 39 wide-bodied aircraft, the majority to destinations in the United States were on the road. Around 6,000 passengers and crew members stranded in Gander , which at the time had less than 10,000 inhabitants. Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien noted that there were more people in the airport than in the city.
The Halifax International Airport took 40 flights. The remaining flights from Europe landed at St. John's , Greater Moncton and Stephenville airports .
Transpacific flights
All flights from Asia were diverted to Vancouver International Airport , as this is the only airport on Canada's west coast with sufficient capacity. 34 flights with a total of 8,500 passengers landed in the western Canadian metropolis.
Military intervention
There have also been numerous incidents in which American fighter jets escorted passenger planes into Canadian airspace. The North American Aerospace Defense Command used the Canadian Forces Air Command and United States Air Force jets to force flights to land at Whitehorse Airport .
One of the escorted flights was Korean Air Flight 85 from Seoul-Incheon to New York - John F. Kennedy with a scheduled stopover in Anchorage - Ted Stevens . It was believed that the plane was hijacked. As a precaution, numerous buildings in Anchorage and Whitehorse have been evacuated. The plane landed with little kerosene, and there was a communication problem with the flight crew. After landing, the crew was led out of the aircraft with their hands raised. The incident was triggered by a communication problem with the transponder .
The Global Television Network and the National Post reported a similar incident in Vancouver. Two American F-15s escorted an Air China plane from Beijing to San Francisco to the airport. This too was triggered by communication difficulties.
Reactions
Before landing, most pilots did not inform passengers of the attacks in order to avoid panic in the planes. In some planes, even the pilots didn't know what was happening. Global TV quoted a pilot as follows:
“When we were in the air, we really didn't know what was going on. All we heard was security measures and we were diverted. That was all we knew ... ”
“While we were in the air, we really didn't know what was happening. All we learned was that security measures were in place and we were being rerouted. That was all we knew ... "
The passengers were usually informed of what had happened by the pilots after landing. The Washington Post , according to said a passenger whose flight from Frankfurt to Dallas / Fort Worth unscheduled in Toronto ended that the pilot made about three hours before landing an announcement that there was turbulence.
“Then he said we were experiencing strong head winds and we had to land in Canada to refuel. When we landed, he said, 'Okay, there's been a terrorist attack.' ”
“Then he said there was a strong headwind and we would have to stop in Canada to refuel. When we landed, he said, 'Okay, there was a terrorist attack.' "
Because of Transport Canada's high level of security, it took hours for passengers to get off the plane. The RCMP provided additional personnel so that every aircraft could be searched. The planes were mostly lined up on the closed runways. In addition, the police presence in the terminal buildings has been greatly increased.
At the airports, some passengers watched television to keep up to date, while others went to the airport chaplaincy. The airports had crisis intervention teams to support them.
The American Secretary of Transportation said at a media briefing at the White House
"We owe our Canadian neighbors a debt of gratitude for helping us as we redirected… flights and their passengers to airports in Canada."
"We owe our gratitude to our Canadian neighbors for helping us divert flights and their passengers to airports in Canada."
On the tenth anniversary of 9/11 , US President Barack Obama thanked the Canadians for their friendship and solidarity.
After the attacks
numbers
The number of rerouted flights and their passengers varies by source. Transport Canada reports 33,000 passengers on 224 flights while Nav Canada reports 239 flights. According to the Prime Minister, there were between 225 and 250 flights and between 30,000 and 45,000 passengers.
| Airport | IATA airport code | Number of aircraft |
|---|---|---|
 Halifax Stanfield
|
YHZ | 47 |
 Gander
|
YQX | 38 |
 Vancouver
|
YVR | 34 |
|
St. John's
|
YYT | 21st |
 Winnipeg
|
YWG | 15th |
 Toronto-Pearson
|
YYZ | 14th |
 Calgary
|
YYC | 13 |
 Montréal-Mirabel
|
YMX | 10 |
 Greater Moncton
|
YQM | 10 |
|
Stephenville
|
YJT | 8th |
|
CFB Goose Bay
|
YYR | 7th |
|
Montréal-Trudeau
|
YUL | 7th |
|
Edmonton
|
YEG | 6th |
|
Hamilton
|
YHM | 4th |
 Whitehorse
|
YXY | 2 |
|
Deer Lake
|
YDF | 1 |
 Yellowknife
|
YZF | 1 |
| Total: | 238 | |
Halifax received the most planes while Vancouver landed the most passengers.
Web links
- CNN interview with Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
- 11-09-2001 Four days in September
- 2001: Air traffic in the USA interrupted after four aircraft hijackings
- Norad and September 11th
Individual evidence
- ↑ Canada rolls down security shutters.
- ^ Flight cancellations a Canadian first. In: The Vancouver Sun . September 12, 2001.
- ↑ All flights from Canada halted. In: The Globe and Mail . September 12, 2001.
- ↑ Cdn Airports, offices close; hospitals prepare for wounded from US attacks. In: The Canadian Press . September 12, 2001.
- ↑ a b International Flights Diverted to Canada. In: The Washington Post . September 12, 2001.
- ↑ a b Airport Acknowledges Tenth Anniversary of September 11th. ( Memento from May 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Scores of US-Bound Planes Are Diverted to Canadian Airports.
- ↑ Canadians offer homes to stranded: 400 international jets diverted across country. In: National Post . September 12, 2001.
- ↑ a b c d Military escorts jets to airports in Whitehorse, Vancouver after hijacking fears. In: National Post . September 12, 2001.
- ↑ Norad suspected plane was hijacked. In: The Whitehorse Star . September 12, 2001.
- ↑ Korean passenger jet diverted to Whitehorse Treated as hijacking: RCMP. In: The Canadian Press . September 11, 2001.
- ↑ a b c d Global National (television). September 11, 2001.
- ↑ a b c The National (television). September 11, 2001.
- ↑ September 11, 2001. ( Memento from May 28, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ 9 September 2011: President Obama's Letter to Canada on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11. ( Memento of the original from October 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
