Halifax’s airport to commemorate 20th anniversary of September 11

‘Many people pulled together and showed the Halifax hospitality that we’re so well known for,’ said airport spokesperson Tiffany Chase

HALIFAXtoday\ Meghan Groff

Halifax Stanfield International Airport will be hosting a ceremony Saturday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of September 11th.

On that date in 2001, four airplanes were hijacked in the United States. Two crashed into New York City’s World Trade Center, leading to the collapse of the two giant towers. A third struck the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and the fourth crashed into a Pennsylvania field after passengers and crew tried to regain control on the aircraft.

North American airspace was quickly shut down to all but emergency traffic, and many flights that were already in the air were forced to land.

Dozens of those planes ended up being diverted to our city.

“Halifax welcomed 40 aircraft and hundreds of passengers and crew members here while they waited to see when they could continue on with their journeys,” airport spokesperson Tiffany Chase explained.

She said a number of organizations had to come together to quickly coordinate the influx of planes and people.

“They were stationed on an unused runway,” she said. “We had one of the runways where those aircraft were positioned, waiting until air travel could resume.”

“Many people pulled together and showed the Halifax hospitality that we’re so well known for, in welcoming and housing many of those people,” Chase added.

The commemoration ceremony starts at 1 p.m. Saturday and it will be live-streamed.

“We’ve put together a video collecting some perspectives from various people who were involved in managing the arrival of all of those stranded passengers and crew members at the time,” Chase said.

“It’s a significant anniversary to take note of and it’s an event that Haligonians won’t soon forget,” she added.