Canada’s worst airplane disaster occurred at Gander airport in December 1985, when a chartered Arrow Air flight crashed after takeoff, leaving no survivors. Among the dead were 248 members of the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division who were returning to North Carolina after completing a peacekeeping mission. The significance of the tragedy to When The World Came to Town is twofold. It is a defining piece of Gander’s story and its aviation history. In that instance, tragedy struck suddenly and irrevocably, as it did on 9/11. In the latter instance, the people of Gander had an opportunity to provide shelter and comfort to those affected by the tragedy, and they rose to the occasion in life-changing fashion. DeFede notes that passengers asked to see the site of the tragedy and pay their respects. In this way, the events became linked across time in the psyche and history of the people.

The vice president of the local airport authority, Geoff Tucker, described Gander International Airport as “[t]he lifeboat of the North Atlantic” (30) because any pilot flying to the US from Europe makes a point of knowing where it is. Any pilot who experiences mechanical issues, a medical emergency, or an unruly passenger can make an emergency landing in Gander.