Gander is a town located in the northeastern part of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, approximately 40 km (25 mi) south of Gander Bay, 100 km (62 mi) south of Twillingate and 90 km (56 mi) east of Grand Falls-Windsor. Located on the northeastern shore of Gander Lake, it is the site of Gander International Airport, once an important refuelling stop for transatlantic aircraft. The airport is still a preferred emergency landing point for aircraft facing on-board medical or security issues.
Gander was chosen for the construction of an airport in 1935 because it is very close to the great circle route between New York and London. In 1936, construction of the base began, and the town started to develop. On 11 January 1938, Captain Douglas Fraser made the first landing at "Newfoundland Airport," now known as Gander International Airport, or "CYQX," in a single-engine biplane, Fox Moth VO-ADE.
During the Second World War, as many as 10,000 Canadian, British and American military personnel resided in Gander. The area became a strategic post for the Air Ferry Command of the Royal Air Force, with approximately 20,000 American- and Canadian-built fighters and bombers stopping at Gander en route to Europe. After the war, the airbase became a civilian airport, and the location of the town was moved a safe distance from the runways. Construction of the present town site began in the 1950s, and the present municipality was incorporated in 1958; the settlement around the airport was eventually abandoned.[8]
After the Second World War, the town grew as the airport was used as a refuelling stop for transatlantic flights, earning its name "Cross-roads of the world." Efforts were made to diversify the economy from being dependent on the airport, particularly as new aircraft designs permitted longer-range flights without the need for landing to refuel.
Gander was the site of a major aircraft accident, Arrow Air Flight 1285, on 12 December 1985; 256 people were killed in the disaster, probably caused by ice contamination on the wings, making it the deadliest air crash ever to happen in Canada.
Assistance following September 11 attacks
In 2001, Gander International Airport played an integral role in world aviation in the hours immediately following the September 11 attacks when all of North America's airspace was closed by Transport Canada and the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). As part of Operation Yellow Ribbon, 38 civilian and 4 military flights bound for the United States were ordered to land at the airport—more flights than any Canadian airport other than Halifax International. More than 6,600 passengers and airline crew members—equivalent to 66% of the local population at the time—were forced to stay in the Gander area for up to six days until airspace was reopened. Gander received the third highest volume of passengers following Operation Yellow Ribbon, behind Vancouver International Airport, which received 8,500, and Halifax International. Residents of Gander and surrounding communities volunteered to house, feed, and entertain the travellers as part of Operation Yellow Ribbon. This was largely because Transport Canada and Nav Canada asked that transatlantic flights avoid diverting to major airports in central Canada, such as Toronto Pearson and Montréal-Dorval.
Lufthansa named one of its Airbus A340 (registration D-AIFC[9]) aircraft Gander/Halifax to thank both cities for their handling of rerouted travellers on 11 September. A book, The Day the World Came to Town, included several stories about Gander's role during that and subsequent days.[10] A radio play, The Day the Planes Came, by Caroline and David Stafford, dealing with the effect on Gander of the 11 September passengers was first broadcast in June 2008 on BBC Radio 4 and was repeated in October 2009.[11] A TV movie, Diverted, was made in 2009. In February 2010, NBC aired a report by Tom Brokaw covering Gander's part in the grounding of hundreds of planes on 9/11 during coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.[12] A musical by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, Come from Away, which retells the stories of passengers and Newfoundlanders in Gander after Operation Yellow Ribbon, was mounted on Broadway in 2017.[13] The same year, Come from Away was nominated for seven Tony Awards and won the Tony for Best Direction of Musical. The town was also profiled in Moze Mossanen's 2018 documentary film You Are Here.[14]National Geographic Episode 9/11: Control The Skies tells the story of the air traffic controllers, first broadcast on 11 September 2019.[15][16]
The Town of Gander continues to pursue business opportunities in the aerospace industry.[17]
In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Gander had a population of 11,880 living in 5,068 of its 5,424 total private dwellings, a change of 1.6% from its 2016 population of 11,688. With a land area of 104.53 km2 (40.36 sq mi), it had a population density of 113.7/km2 (294.4/sq mi) in 2021.[3]
Gander has a cool to cold humid continental climate (Köppen climate classificationDfb). It combines moderately warm and rainy summers with cold and very snowy winters. Due to the maritime influence from the Atlantic Ocean, seasonal changes are slightly less pronounced than in Canada's interior, but still substantial given its near-coastal position. Its average frost-free period runs from June 1 to October 16–136 days.
Medical services are provided by the James Paton Memorial Health Centre, on the Trans-Canada Highway. The hospital opened in May 1964 and has undergone many changes since then, making it a prominent hospital in the central region. The hospital has a rated beds capacity of 92.[25]
The Steele Community Centre, previously named the Gander Community Centre,[26] is a multi-purpose venue located on Airport Boulevard. The community centre, owned and operated by the Town of Gander, is used to host trade shows, conferences, sporting events and special events. It is home to the Gander Flyers of the Central West Senior Hockey League.
During Operation Yellow Ribbon, the people of Gander and surrounding communities donated large amounts of food and other supplies for the unexpected visitors. The Gander Community Centre became a giant "walk-in fridge" for the food donations.[27]
in 2006, the miniseries Above and Beyond deals with the Atlantic Ferry Organization, tasked with ferrying aircraft from North America to Europe in the early years of the Second World War. The production was filmed primarily at the Gander airport, and details the development of the airport as a ferry stop.
In 1991, the International Astronomical Union's Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (IAU/WGPSN) officially named a crater on Mars after Gander. Gander Crater lies at latitude 31.5° south, longitude 265.9° west; its diameter is 38 km (24 mi).[34][35]
Public parks, walking and ski trails
Cobbs Pond Rotary Park: a small park located on the northern edge of Gander. Amenities include: picnic area, washrooms, wharf, playground and a 3 km (1.9 mi) boardwalk trail. It is also the site of the town’s annual festival, The Festival of Flight, which occurs on the first Monday of August. The site reopened with renovations in 2014.
Thomas Howe Demonstration Forest: an interpretive demonstration forest located 2 km (1.2 mi) east of Gander on the Trans-Canada Highway. Amenities include: three walking trails with interpretive panels, a picnic area, washrooms and snowshoe trails.
Gander Heritage Trails: meander through the streets of old airport sectors where Gander once existed, near Gander International Airport. Look for remnants of old building foundations, benches and interpretive panels.
Newfoundland Trailway: the old Canadian National Railway that passed through Gander has been developed for walking, biking, snowmobiling and cross-country skiing. Some sections between Cobb’s Pond Rotary Park and the Old Town Site have been paved.
The Airport Nordic Ski Club: located 3 km (1.9 mi) west of Gander on the Trans Canada Highway. The club has 16 km (9.9 mi) of trails groomed for both diagonal stride and skating by a Pisten Bully Groomer, and 5.5 km (3.4 mi) of dedicated snowshoe trails. Ski 4 km (2.5 mi) of lighted trails nightly from dusk until 10 PM (weather and snow conditions permitting). The club is a non-profit, volunteer-run organization that has hosted a number of provincial events including the KidsFest, Midget and High School Championships.[36]
Gander Heritage Memorial Park: located in central Gander on Airport Boulevard. It holds various monuments to aviators and soldiers from Gander and from elsewhere in Newfoundland, and the town describes it as being "envisaged as a place of quiet thought and contemplation".[37] There is a statue of Gander, a Newfoundland dog posthumously awarded the Dickin Medal, the "animals' VC", in 2000 for his deeds in World War II,[38] the first such award in over 50 years.[39]
