Gander | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 Seal  Coat of arms | |
| Motto(s): "Volet Gander" (Latin) "May Gander soar" | |
  Gander Location of Gander Show map of Newfoundland Gander Gander (Canada) Show map of Canada | |
| Coordinates:48°57′26″N54°35′19″W / 48.95722°N 54.58861°W /48.95722; -54.58861[1] | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Newfoundland and Labrador |
| Census division | Division No. 6, Newfoundland and Labrador |
| Settled | 1936 |
| Incorporated | 1958 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Gander Town Council |
| • Mayor | Percy Farwell[2] |
| Area (2021)[3] | |
• Town | 104.53 km2 (40.36 sq mi) |
| • Urban | 13.64 km2 (5.27 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 2,412.67 km2 (931.54 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 128 m (420 ft) |
| Population (2021)[3] | |
• Town | 11,880 |
| • Density | 113.7/km2 (294/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 9,918 |
| • Urban density | 727.2/km2 (1,883/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 13,414 |
| • Metro density | 5.6/km2 (15/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC−03:30 (NST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−02:30 (NDT) |
| Postal code span | |
| Area code | 709 |
| Highways |  Route 1 (TCH) Route 330 |
| Website | www |
Gander is a town located in the northeastern part of the island ofNewfoundland in theCanadian province ofNewfoundland and Labrador, approximately 40 km (25 mi) south ofGander Bay, 100 km (62 mi) south ofTwillingate and 90 km (56 mi) east ofGrand Falls-Windsor. Located on the northeastern shore ofGander Lake, it is the site ofGander 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.
When the U.S. closed its airspace after theSeptember 11 attacks, Gander International Airport took in 38 commercial aircraft and four military aircraft, and accommodated nearly 6,700 evacuees fromOlympic Airways,Air France,Lufthansa,British Airways,Alitalia and more.[4][5][6]
Most of the streets in Gander are named after famous aviators, includingAlcock and Brown,Amelia Earhart,Charles Lindbergh,Eddie Rickenbacker,Marc Garneau andChuck Yeager.[7]
Gander was chosen for the construction of an airport in 1935 because it is very close to thegreat 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-enginebiplane,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 theAir Ferry Command of theRoyal Air Force, with approximately 20,000 American- and Canadian-builtfighters andbombers 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 fortransatlantic 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.
In 2001,Gander International Airport played an integral role in world aviation in the hours immediately following theSeptember 11 attacks when allairspace in Canada and the USA was closed byTransport Canada and theUnited States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). As part ofOperation 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 thanHalifax International. More than 6,600 passengers andairline 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, behindVancouver 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 andNav Canada asked that transatlantic flights avoid diverting to major airports incentral Canada, such asToronto Pearson andMontréal-Dorval.
Lufthansa named one of itsAirbus A340 (registration D-AIFC[9]) aircraftGander/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 andDavid Stafford, dealing with the effect on Gander of the 11 September passengers was first broadcast in June 2008 onBBC Radio 4 and was repeated in October 2009.[11] A TV movie,Diverted, was made in 2009. In February 2010,NBC aired a report byTom Brokaw covering Gander's part in the grounding of hundreds of planes on 9/11 during coverage of the2010 Winter Olympics inVancouver.[12] A musical byIrene Sankoff andDavid Hein,Come from Away, which retells the stories of passengers and Newfoundlanders in Gander after Operation Yellow Ribbon, was mounted onBroadway in 2017.[13] The same year,Come from Away was nominated for sevenTony Awards and won the Tony for Best Direction of Musical. The town was also profiled inMoze Mossanen's 2018 documentary filmYou Are Here.[14]National Geographic Episode9/11: Control The Skies tells the story of theair traffic controllers, first broadcast on 11 September 2019.[15][16]
The Town of Gander continues to pursue business opportunities in the aerospace industry.[17]
Gander is located 310 km (190 mi) northwest of the provincial capital ofSt. John's.Ordovician ageshale,slate andgreywacke form the underlying bedrock, which is covered by stony loam to silt loampodzolic orgleysolic soil.[18]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 5,725 | — |
| 1981 | 10,404 | +81.7% |
| 1991 | 10,339 | −0.6% |
| 1996 | 10,364 | +0.2% |
| 2001 | 9,651 | −6.9% |
| 2006 | 9,951 | +3.1% |
| 2011 | 11,054 | +11.1% |
| 2016 | 11,688 | +5.7% |
| 2021 | 11,880 | +1.6% |
| [3][19][20][21] | ||
In the2021 Canadian census conducted byStatistics Canada, Gander had a population of 11,880 living in 5,068 of its 5,424 total private dwellings, a change of1.6% from its 2016 population of 11,688. With a land area of 104.53 km2 (40.36 sq mi), it had a population density of113.7/km2 (294.4/sq mi) in 2021.[3]
As of the 2021 census, the population of Gander was found to be 89.7%white with allvisible minorities totalling 2.7% of the population and theIndigenous population totalling 7.5%.[3]
Gander has a cool to coldhumid continental climate (Köppen climate classificationDfb). It combines moderately warm and rainy summers with cold and very snowy winters. Due to the maritime influence from theAtlantic 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.
| Climate data forGander International Airport, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1937–present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record highhumidex | 16.5 | 13.4 | 17.5 | 24.8 | 33.0 | 40.0 | 40.4 | 39.0 | 34.6 | 29.8 | 25.7 | 18.0 | 40.4 |
| Record high °C (°F) | 14.2 (57.6) | 13.4 (56.1) | 18.1 (64.6) | 22.6 (72.7) | 31.0 (87.8) | 33.7 (92.7) | 35.6 (96.1) | 33.3 (91.9) | 29.1 (84.4) | 24.7 (76.5) | 20.6 (69.1) | 15.2 (59.4) | 35.6 (96.1) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −2.8 (27.0) | −2.7 (27.1) | 0.3 (32.5) | 5.4 (41.7) | 11.7 (53.1) | 17.0 (62.6) | 21.8 (71.2) | 21.4 (70.5) | 16.9 (62.4) | 10.4 (50.7) | 5.1 (41.2) | 0.1 (32.2) | 8.7 (47.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −6.6 (20.1) | −6.8 (19.8) | −3.8 (25.2) | 1.4 (34.5) | 6.7 (44.1) | 11.6 (52.9) | 16.6 (61.9) | 16.6 (61.9) | 12.3 (54.1) | 6.7 (44.1) | 1.8 (35.2) | −3.1 (26.4) | 4.5 (40.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −10.4 (13.3) | −10.9 (12.4) | −7.7 (18.1) | −2.7 (27.1) | 1.6 (34.9) | 6.2 (43.2) | 11.3 (52.3) | 11.7 (53.1) | 7.7 (45.9) | 2.9 (37.2) | −1.5 (29.3) | −6.3 (20.7) | 0.2 (32.4) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −27.2 (−17.0) | −31.1 (−24.0) | −28.8 (−19.8) | −17.6 (0.3) | −8.9 (16.0) | −2.8 (27.0) | 0.6 (33.1) | −1.1 (30.0) | −1.7 (28.9) | −7.2 (19.0) | −15.7 (3.7) | −26.1 (−15.0) | −31.1 (−24.0) |
| Record lowwind chill | −43.4 | −46.7 | −44.7 | −29.1 | −16.7 | −8.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | −6.5 | −14.9 | −28.0 | −40.2 | −46.7 |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 102.8 (4.05) | 91.4 (3.60) | 105.2 (4.14) | 92.0 (3.62) | 93.8 (3.69) | 88.8 (3.50) | 105.0 (4.13) | 101.7 (4.00) | 115.2 (4.54) | 119.9 (4.72) | 110.1 (4.33) | 121.3 (4.78) | 1,247.1 (49.10) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 26.2 (1.03) | 25.0 (0.98) | 25.4 (1.00) | 51.7 (2.04) | 78.2 (3.08) | 89.8 (3.54) | 107.2 (4.22) | 106.5 (4.19) | 121.1 (4.77) | 116.0 (4.57) | 80.4 (3.17) | 54.7 (2.15) | 882.2 (34.73) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 97.1 (38.2) | 81.0 (31.9) | 85.5 (33.7) | 45.5 (17.9) | 10.6 (4.2) | 1.5 (0.6) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.1 (0.0) | 12.4 (4.9) | 29.7 (11.7) | 80.2 (31.6) | 443.4 (174.6) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.2 mm) | 20.3 | 17.6 | 19.6 | 17.7 | 18.9 | 17.4 | 17.5 | 16.0 | 16.2 | 20.4 | 20.0 | 21.6 | 223.3 |
| Average rainy days(≥ 0.2 mm) | 7.4 | 7.1 | 10.0 | 12.5 | 17.6 | 17.6 | 18.0 | 16.4 | 17.0 | 19.9 | 14.3 | 10.9 | 168.9 |
| Average snowy days(≥ 0.2 cm) | 18.7 | 16.9 | 16.0 | 10.8 | 4.1 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 3.5 | 10.3 | 17.4 | 98.2 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%)(at 1500 LST) | 75.3 | 71.3 | 69.4 | 66.4 | 64.6 | 64.4 | 63.1 | 63.8 | 66.6 | 72.6 | 77.6 | 80.5 | 69.6 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 93.7 | 105.4 | 117.2 | 130.5 | 163.2 | 183.7 | 218.7 | 208.1 | 148.5 | 110.4 | 72.6 | 72.4 | 1,624.2 |
| Percentagepossible sunshine | 34.6 | 36.8 | 31.9 | 31.8 | 34.5 | 38.0 | 44.8 | 46.7 | 39.2 | 32.9 | 26.3 | 28.1 | 35.5 |
| Source:Environment Canada[22] (sunshine 1981–2010)[23][24] | |||||||||||||
Medical services are provided by the James Paton Memorial Health Centre, on theTrans-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]
TheSteele Community Centre, previously named theGander 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 theGander Flyers of theCentral West Senior Hockey League.
DuringOperation 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]
Gander airport features in theNevil Shute novelNo Highway and the film adaptation, calledNo Highway in the Sky in Anglophone countries other than the UK.
in 2006, the miniseriesAbove and Beyond deals with theAtlantic 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 2013,Come from Away, a musical byIrene Sankoff andDavid Hein based on the events in Gander on and after 11 September was first performed atSheridan College inOakville, Ontario, following a workshop there the previous year. It became a co-production of theLa Jolla Playhouse and theSeattle Repertory Theatre, and opened inSan Diego on 29 May 2015.[28] The show saw a production inWashington, D.C., atFord's Theatre, from September to October 2016, then, prior to opening inToronto, staged a pair of shows in Gander.[29] It opened at Toronto'sRoyal Alexandra Theatre, running from November 2016 to January 2017, where it set a ticket sales record for the 109-year-old venue.[30] It opened inNew York onBroadway at theGerald Schoenfeld Theatre on 12 March 2017,[31] and returned to the Royal Alex in Toronto on 13 February 2018.[32] In the year 2017, at the71st Tony Awards, the musical was nominated for sevenTony Awards, alongside other musical award nominations, ultimately winning one forBest Direction of a Musical byChristopher Ashley.[33] The show has gone on to be played in various cities around North and South America and Europe for over a decade.
In 1991, theInternational Astronomical Union's Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (IAU/WGPSN) officially named acrater 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]
In 2017, the103 Search and Rescue Squadron,RCAF received theFreedom of the Town award.[40][41]
Gander travel guide from WikivoyagePlaces adjacent to Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador | |
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Division No. 6,Newfoundland and Labrador (Central Newfoundland) | ||
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