Operation Yellow Ribbon was commenced by Transport Canada to handle the diversion of civilian airline flights in response to the September 11 attacks in 2001. Canada's goal was to ensure that potentially destructive air traffic be removed from U.S. airspace as quickly as possible, and away from potential U.S. targets, and instead place these aircraft on the ground in Canada, mostly at military and civilian airports in the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and British Columbia (and also several in New Brunswick, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec) where their destructive potential could be better contained and neutralized. As none of the aircraft proved to be a threat, Canada and Canadians subsequently undertook to play host to the many people aboard the aircraft during the ensuing delay in reaching their destinations.
Canada commenced the operation after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded all aircraft across the United States. The FAA then worked with Transport Canada to reroute incoming international flights to airports in Canada.
During the operation, departing flights, with the exception of police, military, and humanitarian flights were cancelled, marking the first time that Canada shut down its airspace. As a result of Operation Yellow Ribbon, 255 aircraft were diverted to 17 different airports across the country.
Read more about Operation Yellow Ribbon: Deployment of Emergency Measures, The Operation
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