Ten years after the tragedy of 9/11 one engineer is harnessing technology to make flying safer while a local rector is trying to peacefully unify practitioners of different faiths.
Engineer Don Ehrenholz was at the airport at 6 a.m. sipping a Tim Hortons coffee and absently watching a TV tuned to CNN when he saw the first plane hit the World Trade Center.
I had to do a double take and say, was that real? said Ehrenholz, vice-president of operations at Vancouver International Airport Authority.
Approximately 17 minutes later, Ehrenholz watched a second airplane crash into the second tower.
As television audiences all over the world watched the twin towers collapse into the streets of New York, Ehrneholz saw planes all over the West Coast descend on Vancouver International Airport as all flights in North America were grounded.
I believe about 8,000 unexpected passengers landed in Vancouver, he said.
Private and commercial airplanes clustered together on the runways, creating a sight Ehrenholz said hed never seen before and isnt likely to see again.
There was a tremendous community response, he said, referring to the goodwill offered to stranded travellers.
As the runways cleared and the panic and confusion of the day began to ebb, Ehrenholz said he was faced with a single question: How can we make our airport more secure?
Over the last ten years, YVR has undergone an approximately $200 million security upgrade, including an automated baggage system, an x-ray system for bags and employee screening.
Some of those upgrades, like x-raying baggage, was already in the works, according to Ehrenholz, but the process was likely accelerated after the tragedy of 9/11.
Weve tried to put it behind the scenes, Ehrenholz said of the upgrades.
The goal was to maintain the aesthetics and efficiency of the airport, so many of the security functions are behind the walls, in the ceiling and under the floor, according to Ehrenholz.
Ehrenholz became acquainted with working at airports when he oversaw runways being paved as a civil engineer.
Having also worked on electronics related to radar and landing systems, Ehrenholz started working for YVR in 1994, eventually becoming vice-president of operations.
The engineer now liaises with Transport Canada, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority to be on the lookout for new security features.
Some of the technology being worked on, including computerized equipment that does the job of bomb-sniffing dogs, is eyebrow-raising, according to Ehrenholz.
They [the United States] have a lab in the south and its got more weird machines and gadgets than you could ever imagine, he said, referring to the mad scientists he encountered while researching airport security.
While computers actually do 90 per cent of the analysis of a passengers bag, Ehrenholz said security will be increasingly dependent on technology.
A lot of [security] is people watching monitors, he said. As time goes by, computers will be doing more of that work.
While Ehrenholz focuses on security, Margaret Cornish, rector at St. Albans church, is planning an interfaith service this Sunday at 5 p.m. to mark the tenth anniversary of 9/11.
It just seems significant that it falls on a Sunday, she said.
The service is scheduled to include a rabbi, reverend, pastor, and a nun, as well as a representative from Richmonds Sikh community.
Cornish said the evening of readings, prayers, and a variety of traditional music is very important given the furor surrounding the Muslim prayer centre, often referred to as ground zero mosque in New York, as well as the mass murder in Norway last July.
Were going to pray together and hope that takes us all forward, she said. I hope Richmond become a real pocket of interfaith activity.
Cornish said she has a vision of the divergent faiths in Richmond coming together at the service, calling it, A distillation of all the voices into one voice thats bigger than all our voices.
The event is open to the religious, as well as agnostics and atheists, according to Cornish, who said everyone is joined by the simple tenet, Love your neighbour.
St. Albans held a similar service to mark the mass murder allegedly fueled by religious hatred in Norway.
Not a lot of people attended, said Cornish, but there were four people from Norway, who were grateful for a public forum that acknowledged their grief.
Its not about numbers, she said. I would gauge the success on how the people who attended feel as they leave the service.
