‘We helped as many as we could’: On 25th anniversary, those who lived 9/11 shared their stories in Gander

Advertisement 1 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Breadcrumb Trail Links HomeAtlantic CanadaNewfoundland & LabradorNewsCanada ‘We helped as many as we could’: On 25th anniversary, those who lived 9/11 shared their stories in Gander There were 6,600 people stranded in Gander on 9/11, and the small Newfoundland community stepped up to help them all Author of the article: By Nicholas Mercer Published Sep 11, 2026 Last updated 12 minutes ago 8 minute read American pilot Guy Gullick tells his 9/11 story inside the International Lounge at Gander International Airport as a part of the Untold Stories event held on Sept. 10. PHOTO BY NICHOLAS MERCER/THE TELEGRAM Article content Lana Andrews walked into Hotel Gander on Sept. 9, 2001, anticipating a good shift as a waitress. Article content She was scheduled to work just three hours and serve the local Rotary Club meeting. Article content Article content Fate had other plans, however. Soon after she left, Andrews was called back in. There were plenty of people coming. Article content Before going to work, Andrews watched as one plane hit the World Trade Centre in New York City. Article content Article content By the time she walked into work, the second aircraft had hit. Article content Little did she know that her day was going to get a whole lot longer. Article content “By the time I came back to the hotel, upstairs in our banquet room, it was sectioned off into four,” Andrews told a packed international lounge at the airport on Sept. 10 as part of an Untold Stories event. Article content “It could seat, in this style, 700 people, but you could break it off into rooms. The first two rooms, I’ll say A and B, were for dining for the people that were coming, and the second two rooms, when I got back, were full of cots, and I was like, ‘Whoa, there’s a few people coming, definitely.’” Article content Soon, Andrews and the rest of the hotel staff were making sure their new guests — who she would later call friends —were getting everything they could need. Article content As a resident of Gander who grew up on the other side of the Gander International Airport, seeing planes was nothing new to her or the rest of the town’s residents. Article content This was something different. Article content Article content Many of the passengers had just the clothes on their backs after spending hours waiting on the tarmac at Gander International Airport, unsure if…