25 years later, Whitehorse remembers its own 9/11 emergency: Korean Air Flight 085

On this day 25 years ago, longtime radio listeners in the Yukon may remember a special broadcast being interrupted with a concerning message from RCMP officer Al Lucier. 

They heard a large 747 aircraft would be arriving “within moments” at the Whitehorse airport, escorted by Canadian and American fighter jets. 

“At this current time, it is being deemed to be an aircraft that is hijacked,” said Lucier over the airwaves. 

Officials called for the evacuation of the airport, schools and downtown. 

It had been hours since news of the two aircrafts that crashed into the World Trade Centre had travelled across the world. 

With North American airspace closed after the attacks, Korean Air Flight 085 wasn’t allowed to land in Alaska to refuel. The aircraft and its 200-plus passengers were instead diverted to Whitehorse. 

Earlier in the day, the pilots had sent a cryptic message that read “HJK”, which was interpreted to mean “hijacked”.

American aviation officials reviewed the message and ordered air traffic control in Anchorage to tell the pilots to confirm using a hijack “squawk”, a transponder signal sent by radio. The pilots complied, leading to confusion on the ground. 

Trying to keep people informed

Retired journalist Brian Boyle remembers hearing the news of the Twin Towers on the radio that morning. After word later got out about the Korean flight, he booked it to the airport. 

Boyle recalls the highway being closed with a single police officer manning the roadblock. 

“He was either gonna have to stop me and lock me up, or let me go,” he said. “So I just drove on past.”

The airport was like a movie scene.

“The fighter jets and the 747 were all circling and there were snipers on the roof of the airport and surrounding buildings. It was quite the deal," Boyle said. 

Boyle said he never felt there was any real danger. His main focus was keeping residents informed. 

“I just wanted [the plane] to get on the ground while they still had some fuel and get everybody safe... and to try and keep the local folks from panicking or making decisions on information we simply didn't have.” 

Jean Chrétien, Canada’s prime minister at the time, later revealed he had given the green light to have the plane shot down if needed. 

Following procedure

As Boyle tried to relay any information he could to the public, Dave White was sitting inside the air traffic control tower at the Whitehorse airport grappling with what was happening in the air. He received a call from the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) about the incoming aircraft and possible hijacking.  

“It seemed like an impossibility, quite frankly. But given the events of the day... we took it quite seriously,” he said. 

Though the air traffic control team hadn’t prepared specifically for this kind of situation, they leaned on their training and literally pulled out manuals to follow procedure. 

Ultimately, the plane landed without issue and showed no signs of a hijacking.

Reflecting on the event today, White said, “I think Whitehorse turned out to be just an excellent city and an excellent area for this to happen. All the community agencies came together... it was just amazing.”

Watching from afar

At this time, newly-minted Yukon MP Larry Bagnell was in Washington D.C. with a Gwich’in delegation. The group was waiting to meet with the Hawaiian senator, and saw the second plane crash into the South Tower on TV.  

The meeting was cancelled and they were ushered out the door. Bagnell was left standing outside of the Capitol building with a security guard. 

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“We heard this bang, we both jumped, and it was the plane that hit the Pentagon.” 

The headquarters for the U.S. military sits only roughly four kilometres in a straight line from the Capitol.

A few hours later, he learned about the situation developing back home.

“I thought it might be a false alarm because of all the panic going on at the time,” he recalls, adding that he was confident the RCMP had things under control. 

The pilot’s original “HJK” message remains a mystery. White said he has “no idea” what it could mean, while Lucier said it still tugs at his policing instincts.

“With every passing year, [there’s] less need for us to truly understand,” he said. “But I guess the investigator in me always wonders what really went wrong on that day that led to this city being placed in [this] situation.”