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

• Published in: Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management
• Main Author: Scanlon, Joseph
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2012
• Subjects: Canada; Newfoundland; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5973.2012.00669.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1468-5973.2012.00669.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1468-5973.2012.00669.x

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.