'Vivid' memories persist of Korean Air Flight 085, Whitehorse's scare on 9/11

Chaos filled the streets of New York City on Sept. 11 two decades ago, as people faced fear of the unknown when terrorists linked to al-Qaeda hijacked passenger jets and flew them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

The same day about 6,000 kilometres away, that fear was evident in Whitehorse when a Korean airliner, suspected of being hijacked, was reported to be heading its way.

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The United States decided to close its airspace on Sept. 11, 2001, due to the terrorist attacks, and Canada followed suit — forcing every plane in the sky to land.

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But U.S. officials weren't allowing any planes to land on American soil, so the Korean airliner — which was running low on fuel — was diverted to the closest international airport, in Whitehorse.

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According to Max Fraser, a documentary filmmaker in Whitehorse, the pilots on Korean Air flight 085 sent a text message containing a three-letter code "HJK," an abbreviation of the English term "hijacked", which can also be interpreted as: "We are victims of piracy."

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/whitehorse-remember-korean-air-flight-085-9-11-1.6170489