Parallel Planning, Local Solutions: Four Newfoundland Airports Deal Diverted Flights after 9/11

On September 11, 2001, after a series of terrorist attacks, the USA closed its air space while scores of flights were over the North Atlantic. As a result many of those flights were forced to land in Canada: 88 flights carrying approximately 12,000 people landed at four Newfoundland airports – meaning that four communities with parallel plans faced the same emergency at the same on the same day providing a unique opportunity for a comparative study. As it happened all four handled the emergency effectively but each did it in its own way starting with a plan but adapting the plan to local circumstances.