{"id":1192307,"date":"2026-09-08T00:30:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T00:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1192307\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T00:30:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T00:30:13","slug":"7000-passengers-in-one-canadian-town-after-9-11-including-a-couple-from-birmingham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1192307\/","title":{"rendered":"7,000 passengers in one Canadian town after 9\/11, including a couple from Birmingham"},"content":{"rendered":"

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC<\/a>) – Burr Weatherly had no idea where his parents were for three days after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very nerve racking,\u201d Weatherly said.<\/p>\n

He knew they boarded their plane in Ireland the morning of 9\/11 and were expected to arrive in Birmingham later that night, but while they were in the air, terrorists hijacked four planes. <\/p>\n

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) first ordered a nationwide ground stop after the attack at the World Trade Center, and shut down U.S. airspace after the Pentagon was hit. <\/p>\n

Weatherly\u2019s parents were on one of dozens of international flights diverted to Gander, Newfoundland, a remote Canadian town.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually pulled out a map just to see where it [was]\u2026 who\u2019s ever heard of Gander?\u201d Weatherly said. \u201cI was just so happy that they were safe. And they were on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

They were also being well taken care of. In a matter of hours, the town of Gander nearly doubled in population with 7,000 international passengers stranded for days. <\/p>\n

The Weatherly\u2019s and others became known as the \u201cplane people,\u201d but locals treated them like family. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnything they needed, it was taken care of. They literally got off the plane with the shirts on their backs,\u201d said Weatherly.<\/p>\n

The extraordinary kindness put Gander on the map, and that story is being shared on Red Mountain Theatre\u2019s stage in \u201cCome From Away.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThis story is a story about compassion and literally just asking somebody, what do you need? And that\u2019s what happened in Gander, right?\u201d said Roy Lightner, who directs the show.<\/p>\n

Lightner said the production honors the tragedy of September 11, but focuses on the unity, compassion, and love of September 12.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been saying, you know, history remembers the smoke. The humans remember the sandwiches. History remembers the tragedy. Humanity remembers the hugs,\u201d Lightner said.<\/p>\n

He added, this story is \u201cjust worth experiencing because it reminds you of what we can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cast members Michael Melcher and Ryan Sohrab each play multiple roles in the show.<\/p>\n

\u201cKindness counts. It\u2019s about kindness. It\u2019s about bringing in the stranger and treating them like you\u2019d like to be treated,\u201d Melcher said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also nice because it\u2019s one of the only shows that you leave reminded of something personal you might have gone through,\u201d Sohrab said.<\/p>\n

For Weatherly, watching his parents\u2019 experience unfold on stage carries added meaning.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents have passed away, and I\u2019m pretty sure other passengers have passed away too,\u201d Weatherly said. \u201cSo, it\u2019s a story that needs to be told just like 9\/11 needs to never be forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show runs through September 20. For more information, you can click or tap here to visit the Red Mountain Theatre\u2019s website<\/b><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Get news alerts in the Apple App Store<\/a> and Google Play Store<\/a> or subscribe to our email newsletter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WBRC. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – Burr Weatherly had no idea where his parents were for three days after the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1192308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7820],"tags":[289654,323115,323119,323120,6304,855,323116,748,943,246357,323118,393,323117,4884,39287,12,323121,323122,118486,16,15,39286],"class_list":["post-1192307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-birmingham","tag-289654","tag-9-11-diverted-flights-musical","tag-9-11-flight-diversions-gander","tag-9-11-01","tag-alabama","tag-birmingham","tag-birmingham-family-9-11-story","tag-britain","tag-canada","tag-come-from-away","tag-come-from-away-red-mountain-theater","tag-england","tag-gander-newfoundland-9-11","tag-great-britain","tag-myfoxal","tag-news","tag-red-mountain-theater","tag-red-mountain-theatre","tag-september-11","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-wbrc"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117232601083680634","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1192307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1192307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1192307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1192308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1192307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1192307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1192307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}