Residents of Gander, N.L., quickly organized a volunteer effort to transport 200 stranded passengers from diverted flights to local hotels after weather prevented their scheduled landing in St. John’s.
Gander Residents Provide Shuttle Service for Stranded Passengers
Residents of Gander, N.L. formed a volunteer shuttle service for about 200 passengers aboard two planes that landed unexpectedly at the town’s airport on Wednesday night.
Jackie Freake, assistant manager at Quality Hotel, received a call that evening about the diverted planes at Gander International Airport. The passengers needed hotel rooms.
The aircraft had taken off from Toronto and Montreal but could not land in St. John’s due to weather conditions.
The passengers were assigned rooms at four hotels in town. However, there were only a few cabs available to transport them, Freake said. She posted in a local Facebook group, noting that over 100 people at the airport needed rides to their accommodations.
It was 10:03 p.m. local time.
“I didn’t ask anybody to help or anything like that and boom, my phone lit up!” Freake said Thursday. “It was just, ‘Can we go get them, can we go get them?”
All the stranded passengers were settled in their hotel rooms within an hour of her post, she stated.
The people of Gander gained international attention when they sheltered and fed thousands of airline passengers stranded in the town after the September 11 attacks in 2001.
This generosity is depicted in the Broadway musical “Come From Away.”
Colleen Edwards had an infant when the planes arrived at Gander airport in 2001. She was part of a group that donated baby supplies to passengers in need.
Officials at Gander airport reported an estimated 200 passengers between the two planes.
Edwards felt it was natural to help the passengers on Wednesday night. She missed Freake’s Facebook message but joined the many cars lined up at Sinbad’s Hotel and Suites to transport people back to the airport on Thursday morning.
Edwards drove a couple from Ontario and a woman and a man from St. John’s in separate trips.
“It was no big deal,” she said, noting she had time since she did not work until Thursday afternoon.
“I’m glad I did it,” she added. “I love chatting. I love saying, like, ‘Where are you from, and how do you feel about being stranded?’”
Freake’s husband also joined the volunteer taxi drivers. She noted it was hard to determine how many people helped, but there were so many volunteer drivers at Quality Hotel on Thursday morning that she had to turn some away.
“The town just pulled together, God love ’em,” Freake said. “It was just overwhelming how many people showed up.”
She added that this kindness is not unique to Gander. “I really think that if you went in any small community in Newfoundland, this is what would happen,” she said.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Location | Gander, N.L. |
| Event Date | Wednesday night |
| Passengers | Approximately 200 |
| Hotels Involved | Four hotels |
| Time of Post | 10:03 p.m. local time |
