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9/11 Remembering The Day........

Geico266

Well Known Member
Seven years ago today the Feds grounded all aircraft including our RV's! :eek:

What were you doing and how did it effect your flying?
 
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Sitting in my kitchen over a cup of coffee, today I remember Jason Dahl - captain of UA93. He gave me a check ride in the 767 once. Nice guy.

On 9/11, I'd just flown a trip back from Sao Paulo that morning, arriving in Chicago at 0500. As I made my way down the concourse for my commute flight home, I remember a large group looking at one of the TVs in the airport. Smoke coming from the WTC. "Just a fire. They'll put it out..." I remember thinking. Then United flight 175 flew into the World Trade Center. I got word of that while waiting to return to the gate on my CRJ commute flight. The nation was grounded. Later that day I took a bus - any bus - out of Chicago.

On the bus, the driver had his radio turned up and I listened to a Chicago radio station as they spoke of another United flight that wasn't responding: United 93. Passengers around me looked at me for answers since I was still in uniform. I had none, and knew that any flight over the US that couldn't respond was in deep trouble.

United 93 fought back, God bless them.
 
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I was in my last couple weeks of A&P school in Clearwater, Florida. Talk about a bad time to be looking forward to employment in the aviation industry. :( Fortunately, most of my class had job offers from Cessna while some of us (me included) went to work for the Air Force as civil service mechanics just as we were ramping up to go get some payback.
 
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remembering

My thoughts go out to the families of those who were lost that day.

I was flying a 737 from Tulsa to Denver that morning and was supposed to take that same airplane from Denver to Atlanta. The maint. guy came up and told us about the first tower being hit. While the co-pilot was getting ready for the next leg and the passengers were boarding I went down to their ready room just in time to see the UAL flight hit the second tower on TV.

I called dispatch to see if they knew what was happening and for direction and they were in crisis mode and offered no direction. I went up to the plane and we both ( pilots ) decided to deplane the passengers because we just didn't know who or what was on our jet. Shortly after that we got word of a nationwide "ground stop".

That day was one of disbelief, shock, and sadness.

I flew the first day we started up and our flight attendants were terrified that it would happen again. We felt like sitting ducks in the cockpit behind that flimsy door and lock.

Our jobs as airline pilots have never been the same since that day.Much of the economy has recovered but the airlines never did.

I cringe every time I think about how many times I hit the unlock button without looking to see who gave the "secret knock".

I hope that everyone remembers that day for how awful it was and that we never become complacent. Never have sympathy for those who would kill your families at the drop of a hat because they are still out there waiting for a chance to do just that.

Capt. Chris Murphy UAL
 
I remember 9/11 by thinking about my grandmother's first husband who died in WWII on D-day standing toe to toe against the Nazis. I think about how steadfast and brave those Americans, Australians, Russians, Canadians, British all were on that day. Why do I think about that? Our nations resolved that we would not cower to dictators and tyrants bent on military destruction and imperialism. In the face in insurmountable odds, we persevered.

So why do I think about WWII on 9/11? Well, not because I draw an analogy to Pearl Harbor (I see very few similarities), but because of how our nation was so different back then. Our fathers and grandfathers were duty led. Our grandmothers and mothers picked up the reigns at home. There were entire small towns in America where there were no able bodied men to be found -- only young boys and old men.

We should resolve to never let people bent on our destruction change who we are as a country. When we do, our enemies win.

If America's principles of freedom, courage, general decency and rule of law were good before 9/11, then by God they are just as good today. If we abandon our principles, I would respectfully ask you exactly what it is we are fighting for.

This is what I think about on this day.
 
I had just walked in the door of my house, returning from a 3 day shift at the fire station. My wife was watching the news on TV, only one tower was hit at the time.

Watched as the second plane hit, and all the rest.

Very bad day, one I will never forget.

Thanks to Doug for the image from main page.

neverforget.jpg
 
My Thoughts a few days after 9/11

I hope everyone doesn't mind my ramblings. The following are my thoughts I wrote down after getting home from NYC that week.

September 14, 2001

Dear Chapter 846 members,

(9/11-from an airline pilot's perspective):

I have finally made it home tonight after spending the last four days in a hotel across from LaGuardia Airport. My trip had started Sunday morning and we were scheduled to finish up Tuesday evening. I was spending the week at the Wyndham because our flight was cancelled just prior to boarding Tuesday morning due to the terrorist attacks upon our country. After our flight was cancelled, we were told to evacuate the terminal. A few of my Flight Attendants watched the twin towers collapse from their spot out in front of the terminal. I talked with two Continental Express pilots who were sitting at the departure end of Runway 4, #2 for takeoff, describe the second airplane hit the twin towers.

I'm not sure how much of the local New York news everyone watched, but I saw a lot, having been glued to the TV for the past 4 days with nothing to do. I'm sure CNN and the national networks showed some shots, but the local CBS station, Channel 2, spent a lot of time each morning interviewing people who were looking for family members who had been working at or close to the World Trade Center towers. That was gut-wrenching!

A very weird day on Thursday (9/13): some of my crew and I walked for 2-3 hours, going past LGA, Shea Stadium and Forest Hills, and we didn't hear any airplanes! Except for the F-15 that went overhead at 1000' and the Navy DC-9 that landed at LGA.

I, just like everyone else, read all the papers and then watched more TV for the updates, but it didn't really hit me of what had happened until we were climbing out of LGA tonight (Friday, 9/14) at about 5:15. The Captain was flying and I was working the radios. We had taxied out to Runway 4 and were the only aircraft on the Ground Control frequency. (Reminder: This was Friday evening, at 5:10 p.m., height of rush-hour at LGA. It normally takes 60-75 minutes to taxi the 1 1/2 miles to Runway 4.) I switched over to Tower freq. and the only other aircraft was a United Airbus 319 landing on Runway 31. That was another eerie feeling. As we taxied out, the high-rise NYC skyline was void of the twin towers normally visible in that area of the taxiway. The only thing we saw in that area was the same cloud that had been visible for the past four days.

After taking off of RY 4, then given a few heading changes, first to N, then to 290 degrees, we were able to see the south end of lower Manhattan as we were about 5-7 miles north and climbing. As I said at the top of this, this was the moment when the tragedy really hit me. We viewed a large void where the towers had been, with the area still smoking, even after the heavy thunderstorms that had come through last night and the continuous rain this morning. The smoke was being blown to the south, off Manhattan, and went up over two thousand feet. The smoke cloud enveloped so many blocks of lower Manhattan. I had seen the pictures on TV & in the paper, but still couldn't have imagined the effect that scene had on me. Just Monday afternoon, during our arrival into the LGA terminal airspace, I had looked straight down on the towers as we flew up the Hudson at 4,000 feet, then past Central Park, and then past Yankee Stadium, before we turned to a base leg and then final for Runway 22.

One of our Flight Attendants on board told me later that he had stayed at the Milford Hotel the last 4 days. I have stayed there many times also. In fact, my crew and I had spent Monday night there and had left the hotel at 8 a.m. Tuesday morning. The Milford is about three blocks west of Times Square on 45th Street. A few blocks down from the Milford is a Fire Station, which I have walked past many times during my layovers. Bill, the FA, said that the fire company assigned to that station was one of the first rescue units called to the situation at the WTC. All members of the company are presumed to have perished. I remember walking past these guys as they sat outside the station and listened to them talk to people walking by and other members in their company in the typical NY talk: "Hey, howzit goin'?"

Workers have placed a thirty-foot high flag on the front of the parking garage at LGA.

I've been rambling on too much, hope you're still with me.

Thank you for reading this. After I got home, I hugged my two boys and Mary longer than I have ever have. God Bless You and your Family and all Americans!

Gary Baker
CAL 737 Captain
 
My story is similar to Chris'. I was flying A DFW-MEM turnaround, the first two legs of a 3 day trip. I always call my wife when I had to leave the house at o-dark-thirty, just to say good morning. She says a plane hit the WTC. I assure her it's some kind of accident, and while we're on the phone, the second tower gets hit.

We ended up pushing back, then get returned to the gate after the ground stop. Spent the next 5 days in MEM. Since we were the first ones to the hotel, AA put my Captain in charge of tracking crews and airplanes that diverted into MEM..there were a ton, as Memphis is a "crossroads" of sorts for a lot of air traffic. Barely saw the guy for 4 days. I sat in front of the TV for 36 hours waiting for a phone call about a buddy of mine who was stationed at the Pentagon.

We had one of our Flight Attendants resign on the spot, rent a car and drive home. The "sitting duck" feelings are very familiar from my eventual flight back to DFW. I unstrapped the crash axe and had it readily available the whole way. Indeed, how many times in the past did we pop the door open without knowing who was on the other side.

Since then, I've been furloughed, sent to Afghanistan and Iraq, taken paycuts when I did come back to AA, had to sell a house, etc. etc. My life will never be the same, not necessarily worse, just not the same.

I certainly will never forget that day. Being employed by AA--much like the UAL guys, the Cantor-Fitzgerald folks, the firefighters, the policemen--I can not allow myself to ever forget that day.

But what I really think about on 9/11 is the family's left behind. All the things the victims on those planes and in those buildings will never get to enjoy, and the time with their kids and spouses that is lost. Sad.

WE can not forget.


Joe
 
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This is indeed an important day to remember those that lost their lives on 9/11 and also to keep in mind our troops and their families that continue to sacrifice to this day.

This was sent to me via e-mail, I'd like to share it here.


Mike



Subject: Going home....

EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE,WE GET IT RIGHT. The people of the United States really do honor our service personnel.God bless this Captain.Subject: Commercial Pilot's blog on the internet....good story

We have H.R. on this flight', she said. H.R. stands for human remains. 'Are they military', I asked. 'Yes', she said. 'Is there an escort', I asked. 'Yes, I already assigned him a seat', 'Would you please tell him to come to the flight deck, you can board him early', I said.

A short while later, a young army sergeant entered the flight deck. He was the image of the perfectly dressed soldier. He introduced himself and I asked him about his soldier. The escorts of these fallen soldiers talk about them as if they are still alive and with us. 'My soldier is on his way back to Virginia ', he said. He proceeded to answer my questions, but offered no words on his own. I asked him if there was anything I could do for him and he said no. I told him that he has the toughest job in the military and that I appreciated the work that he does for the families of our fallen soldiers. The first officer and I got up out of our seats to shake his hand. He left the flight deck to find his seat.

We completed our preflight checks, pushed back and performed an uneventful departure. About 30 minutes into our flight I received a call from the lead flight attendant in the cabin. 'I just found out the family of the soldier we are carrying is onboard', he said. He then proceeded to tell me that the father, mother, wife and 2-year-old daughter were escorting their son, husband, and father home. The family was upset because they were unable to see the container that the soldier was in before we left. We were on our way to a major hub at which the family was going to wait 4 hours for the connecting flight home to Virginia . The father of the soldier told the flight attendant that knowing his son was below him in the cargo compartment and being unable to see him was too much for him and the family to bear. He had asked the flight attendant if there was anything that could be done to allow them to see him upon our arrival. The family wanted to be outside by the cargo door to watch the soldier being taken off the airplane. I could hear the desperation in the flight attendants voice when he asked me if there was anything I could do. 'I'm on it', I said. I told him that I would get back to him.

Airborne communication with my company normally occurs in the form of email like messages. I decided to bypass this system and contact my flight dispatcher directly on a secondary radio. There is a radio operator in the operations control center who connects you to the telephone of the dispatcher. I was in direct contact with the dispatcher. I explained the situation I had onboard with the family and what it was the family wanted. He said he understood and that he would get back to me.

Two hours went by and I had not heard from the dispatcher. We were going to get busy soon and I needed to know what to tell the family. I sent a text message asking for an update. I saved the return message from the dispatcher and this following is the text.

'Captain, sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. There is policy on this now and I had to check on a few things. Upon your arrival a dedicated escort team will meet the aircraft. The team will escort the family to the ramp and plane side. A van will be used to load the remains with a secondary van for the family. The family will be taken to their departure area and escorted into the terminal where the remains can be seen on the ramp. It is a private area for the family only. When the connecting aircraft arrives, the family will be escorted onto the ramp and plane side to watch the remains being loaded for the final leg home. Captain, most of us here in flight control are veterans. Please pass our condolences on to the family, thanks.'

I sent a message back telling flight control thanks for a good job. I printed out the message and gave it to the lead flight attendant to pass on to the father. The lead flight attendant was very thankful and told me, 'You have no idea how much this will mean to them.' Things started getting busy for the descent, approach and landing.

After landing, we cleared the runway and taxied to the ramp area. The ramp is huge with 15 gates on either side of the alleyway. It is always a busy area with aircraft maneuvering every which way to enter and exit. When we entered the ramp and checked in with the ramp controller, we were told that all traffic was being held for us. 'There is a team in place to meet the aircraft', we were told. It looked like it was all coming together, then I realized that once we turned the seat belt sign off, everyone would stand up at once and delay the family from getting off the airplane. As we approached our gate, I asked the copilot to tell the ramp controller we were going to stop short of the gate to make an announcement to the passengers. He did that and the ramp controller said, 'Take your time.'

I stopped the aircraft and set the parking brake. I pushed the public address button and said, 'Ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. I have stopped short of our gate to make a special announcement. We have a passenger on board who deserves our honor and respect. His name is private XXXXXX, a soldier who recently lost his life. Private XXXXXX is under your feet in the cargo hold. Escorting him today is army sergeant XXXXXXX. Also onboard are his father, mother, wife, and daughter. Your entire flight crew is asking for all passengers to remain in their seats to allow the family to exit the aircraft first. Thank you.'

We continued the turn to the gate, came to a stop and started our shutdown procedures. A couple of minutes later I opened the cockpit door. I found the two forward flight attendants crying, something you just do not see. I was told that after we came to a stop, every passenger on the aircraft stayed in their seats, waiting for the family to exit the aircraft. When the family got up and gathered their things, a passenger slowly started to clap their hands. Moments later more passengers joined in and soon the entire aircraft was clapping. Words of 'God Bless You, I'm sorry, Thank you, Be proud' and other kind words were uttered to the family as they made their way down the aisle and out of the airplane. They were escorted down to the ramp to finally be with the loved one lost.

I never did see the family. Another soldier died, another family grieved and we did what we could. That is the way it works sometimes. I get a call from the cabin; we work as a team to do what we can. That day everybody from the flight crew, to the operations center, to the 184 passengers onboard, we did what we could. Many of the passengers disembarking thanked me for the announcement I made. They were just words, I could say them over and over again, but nothing I say will bring that soldier back. I respectfully ask that all of you reflect on this day and the sacrifices that millions of men and women have made to ensure our freedom, safety, and the right to live a good life.
 
Like everybody 911 is one of those times that will always be burned into my memory. The only other two in my life time that would be similar would be the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger and when President Reagon was shot. I understand that for people with a couple of more years experience than me the John Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, and Martin Luther King are similar memories.

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 I was at the Maintenance Operations Center for United Airlines at San Francisco Airport. When the news started to trickle in we were hearing that a small plane had crashed into a building. As the rumors grew we set up a television on a cart along with a makeshift antenna and watched in horror with the rest of the country as the buildings came down.

What stands out in my mind were the words of a co-worker who said "This is the beginning of WW111." A female co-worker who had recently returned from maternity leave went hysterical and cussed out this man using obscenities that would have had to be heard to be believed. She was screaming that her infant son would not be fighting in any ongoing war and to stop trying to make this into more than it is. What really stands out is another woman who had moved here from Sweden and her words as the drama unfolded. She said "America has had this coming for a long time."

As our disbelief and shock began to turn into anger, and the fear of the unknown settled in a message came over the public address system. It was the Senior Vice President of the Division and his voice was struggling to say the words. He was obviously distraught as he said "It appears that our company has been used in an act of terrorism against the United States." He went on to tell us what he knew and then to go home and be with our families.

The next morning every car trying to go to the airport was stopped and searched by the CHP. I was in a carpool and one of the men had forgotten his airport ID. Imagine that being an oversight on 9/12/2001? He was snatched out of the car and we were sent on. He had to have a representative from the company go to the scene and identify him and basically take custody of him and take him onto the airport property. After parking we were searched at the gates. One thing that was obvious is that our lives were now different.

Without forgetting the thousands of people that lost their lives on 911, this day now represents the day that comercial aviation died to me. The downfall of the industry and the sequence of events that has followed ultimately left many of us with some hard choices. Some were laid off, and the rest of us just held on as our livelyhood and chosen fields turned us into liabilities for our companies. Two weeks ago, and clearly as a direct result of 911 I resigned from UAL to seek greener pastures. After years of paycuts, loss of pension, stock losses that would equal at least two very nicely equipted RV's, along with constant negative attitudes from everybody I associated with I walked out the gate for the last time. The vow I made to myself and fully intend to keep is to never work on another airplane for money as long as I live. To me now aviation is simply my humble little airplane and the joy it brings me. Somebody else can offset the price of fuel with their wages, and can work till the day that they die so that angry passengers can have cheaper seats when they fly. I'm done!

In closing I sincerely hope that this country continues to have leaders with the intestinal fortitude to hunt, track, and eliminate threats or potential threats. The victoms deserve it, and the survivors need it even if they don't understand how much they are hated by the attackers.

My two cents.
 
on 9/11 we were

On 9/10 we had flown our Grumman Tiger to Durango to visit friends on our way to Reno air races. Some other neighbors that we were going to meet at Reno also left in their C182 and were in Sedona. When we went to the airport the morning of 9/11 to depart we found out that something was happening, one tower had fallen, second fell as we were trying to sort out what was going on and could we fly that day. Obviously, we soon found out the terrible news and flying was not going to happen. The FBO gave us the crew car and our friends had company the rest of the week.

We kept expecting to still make it to Reno, but that was not to happen. We checked every morning until finally Sat we were able to file IFR. So we filed to Lubbuck and to home. ATC was working hard to move the traffic. Our friends that were stuck in Sedona were 30 min ahead of us into Pecan.
 
My 9/11/2001

I had just gone to Oshkosh and picked up my 210 to come home. I flew home on the tenth. I had planned to stay overnight in Branson, MO, but decided not to (still can't remember why).

On that morning, I woke up and the TV was already on (must have fallen asleep with it on). Saw the first tower in flames. First words I spoke (to myself):
"That can't be an accident".

Few minutes later, second plane hits and I stared in total shock. I called my brother, who was also watching. "We are at war", I said. "Yup".

The policies and complacency that made 9/11 possible finally bore fruit for the enemy.

Simple precautions and policies could have made it impossible for the terrorists to gain control of their massive airborne weapons. Hindsight is 20/20.

The real tragedy is the erosion of our freedoms.

The endless bureaucracy and semi-effective, knee jerk government regulations that resulted.

The humiliation and degradation that endless number of innocent passengers have had to endure.

Sad to say, our America will never be quite as free as it was before then.

I love this country.

God help me, I still do.
 
Airline's Unfortunate Fate

As a lifelong New York City and Long Island resident I have been privileged to meet so many great people in all walks of life. The people of Metropolis are like snowflakes...no two are alike but they are all interesting in some way. On 9/11/2001, five of those snowflakes that I had a personal relationship with perished. These do not include the dozens of dads of kids I either coached or competed against as a long time youth lacrosse coach. It seems the best lacrosse communities on Long Island (Manhasset and Garden City for example) are also the "hotbed" of bright and successful bond traders who worked in the Twin Towers. I stayed home from work this morning to watch the memorial service and view their pictures on the TV as their names were read.

From a personal flying perspective I was grounded for a very, very long time as my airplane was tied down at Republic Airport in Farmingdale, NY. I now have an ENOURMAS appreciation for this wonderful activity we call General Aviation.

As far as the Airline Industry: My primary ties to the industry are the many relationships I have established with mostly retired pilots and technicians. These guys are the proudest bunch of men you will ever meet. My airplane is now at the non-towered Brookhaven Airport. It is here where I spend as much time as possible, visiting hangars that are adorned with large, fading posters of airplanes from Pan Am, Eastern, British Air, etc. These guys still wear their coveralls from the "old days" with the company logo over their heart. I just sit back and listen as they share stories of flying the first B747 for Pan AM or working on the engines or avionics of the B/A Concord. They know it is different now. They appreciate the 'Good Old Days".
 
My job as an airline pilot forces me to vividly remember and consider the events of 9/11 every day.

When I walk into the cockpit, it's through a retrofitted, armored Kevlar door with an electronic access system and a special peephole. When I walk down the jetway at Gate C-19 at Boston Logan airport, I am walking on the same carpeted walkway as the 9/11 crew of United Flight 175 did on their final flight. When we push pack from the gate, there's a prominent flag flying from that particular jetway. When I go back to visit the lavatory inflight, it's done in close coordination with the flight attendants, who stand behind a secondary security barrier between the passengers and the front galley. My Flight Ops Manual contains entire new chapters that it never contained before. There are guns in the cockpit now. My pension is gone. My pay went down 61% (Not whining, just a fact.) Photos of my lost co-workers are still on the walls in dozens of locations in our operations complexes around the country. Near the elevator that leads to our Chicago Ops, a large, quilted flag is displayed in a glass case, signed by our compatriots at American Airlines, wishing us well. I see it every day I go to work.

When I woke up that fine fall day, turned on the TV, and saw United 175 slam into the South Tower, EVERYTHING in my industry began changing in that instant.

The events of the day are still unbelievable. It still feels deeply personal to pilots everywhere, and especially at my company -- especially for those pilots who have the numbers N612UA and N591UA in their logbooks, or those who have actually flown Flight 175 or 93 (a friend of mine flew Flight 175 the day before, on 9/10/01; how's that for a close call?), or, especially, those who have flown with the people involved. It's the same over at American Airlines with Flight 77 and Flight 11. We all know it easily could have been us.

Our psyche's are still wounded. There are days I want to walk off the airport property and never come back. I sometimes think maybe I should just give up flying for a living, and only fly for fun -- RVs, warbirds, vintage biplanes and such, not airliners. Other days, I'm proud to keep the industry going -- proud to fight the terrorists by trying to ignore the effect of their actions on our lives.

Every day, I think about 9/11. Every day, I wish I didn't have to.
 
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It was good to see Senator Obama, Senator McCain, and President Bush standing shoulder to shoulder at "ground zero" to pay their respects to the families of the victims, and the hero's that performed so valiantly that day.

No speeches, no commercials, no politics.

On that day, we were again, The United States of America.
 
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Larry, thanks for starting this thread.

Thanks. It's really good to read these stories, guys keep them coming! For those of you who were really close maybe posting your experiences will help the healing process?

Thanks to all who have posted!
 
I was on my way over to my CFI/CFII sister's house for my BFR. I tuned in to Spike O'Dell on WGN radio in Chicago just after the first plane struck. The second plane struck just after I arrived at my sister's house. We sat, stunned, and watched the flames and the replays. I watched one tower start to shed it's skin and knew it was going to come down soon, and it did. A little later the other came down too.

The BFR became the last thing on our minds. I remember thinking about my sister who lost her husband in a plane crash in 1981, and how she must be sensing the pain striking thousands of families that day.

I would have bet all my meager savings that day that we would have been hit again within a week, but I don't think anyone would have taken my bet. 7 years later by good luck or good work or both we have not been hit, although England, Spain and several other countries have been attacked.

You witness the character of people and cultures when they go through extraordinary times. I believe the character of this country is as good and as strong as ever, and was demonstrated by the many acts of courage by passengers, crews, emergency personnel, and common people in NY, Washington, and Pennsylvania. It has continued to be demonstrated by the thousands of men and women who joined our armed forces after 9/11, many knowing they would go into combat and risk it all, many with families and careers. It is also demonstrated by the thousands of families who waited at home for those who served, and especially the families of those who gave their last and greatest measure of devotion to our country.

I find myself humbled by the examples of service and sacrifice we've witnessed that day and every day since.
 
I was visiting Dallas for company meetings. Took the PDX-DFW morning flight on the 10th, did company meetings at a hotel at 635 and 75 that day and was in more on the 11th (Tuesday, IIRC). Meeting took an early break because of someone who came in and told us what happened. Got to the TV about 90 seconds before the first tower went down.

I was supposed to fly out that night, but obviously that was canceled. Would up staying 2 extra days and on the 13th took a 8:30pm MD-80 DFW-PDX with only about 30 other people. The flight crew was awesome, totally cool and relaxed; pax were a little uptight and it was freaky being on that large of an airplane with so few other people. Arrived PDX about 10:30p and man, was I have never been happier to be home.

Took my next trip for work less than 2 weeks later. A few people suggested I should be concerned to fly commercially, but IMHO the best way to fight terrorism is to live life normally.

TODR
 
Our psyche's are still wounded. There are days I want to walk off the airport property and never come back. I sometimes think maybe I should just give up flying for a living, and only fly for fun -- RVs, warbirds, vintage biplanes and such, not airliners. Other days, I'm proud to keep the industry going -- proud to fight the terrorists by trying to ignore the effect of their actions on our lives.
Never give up. "They" can crash some planes and kill some people, but they can't ground our spirit or take away our love for flying.

TODR
 
I was in my office that morning, about 15 blocks north of the trade center. Someone came in and said a plane just hit the tower. We went outside and could see the smoke, but everyone still thought it was just a small plane. We alternated between going inside to watch the TV and going outside to watch the towers. I happened to be outside watching when the second plane hit. Since it hit from the south, we couldn't see the impact itself, but we saw the fireball. At the time we thought it was a secondary explosion from the first plane since our view of the south tower was blocked by the north tower. I walked a block east where I could see both towers and you could see both towers burning. After watching the first tower collapse on TV, I was outside and watched the 2nd tower fall. My company's headquarters were across the street from the north tower and we had to evacuate about 8000 people. Many of them came up to our building and one of my friends described watching people fall past his window as they jumped from the tower. We had to walk up to the train station to get home and it surprised me how much things were normal only a short distance away from the towers. I guess it hadn't hit home yet for those that only heard about it on the radio or saw it on TV. I knew a couple of people who died that day, including a former boss. While I disagree with our actions in Iraq, I fully support our efforts to combat terrorism and those that were responsible for this attack. It pisses me off to no end when I hear people insult our soldiers and complain about the increase in security. Anybody who does not think that this was a terrible event, was not there that day.
 
If y'all will excuse another personal indulgence, here are some thoughts I jotted down at the time that ended up in the SWA Magazine. This is the rough draft version.


A Perspective from One Flight

Yesterday, on the fourth day of the aftermath, I flew flight Southwest Airlines flight 96 from San Diego to Nashville. For us, it was a re-routed segment attached to a move-up ferry flight from San Jose. We departed San Diego several hours late. The delay was caused by an absence of flight attendants. It wasn’t the fault of our particular flight attendants however. The flight attendants who worked flight 96 on Saturday had been at work since the previous Monday. Two of them had commuted in and therefore had left their families the previous Sunday. After having been given the option to go home, these three flight attendants, at their own suggestion to scheduling, volunteered to fly the flight.

Sometimes after years or decades of flying cross-country, the landscape below us can become routine and even boring. On this particular flight, however, by both direct observation and silent contemplation, we had a wonderful opportunity to reflect upon the majesty, bounty, and diversity of our great nation.

We took off from San Diego. There were a lot of American flags being flown in San Diego. The departure sent us out over the Pacific Ocean and then a climbing turn back around one of the most beautiful cities in the world. We couldn’t help but notice, with immense pride, that a United States naval aircraft carrier was being loaded at Coronado. Continuing the sweeping turn, we noticed the stark contrast of the southern border, a political line that for many represents the chance of a better life in a promised land, whether by birthright or not.

We climbed over the Imperial Valley. A place so blessed by nature that one single farm has a contract to produce a million heads of lettuce a day.

We crossed the Colorado River, its reservoirs a huge part of our nations strategic water reserve, and its recreation areas a popular destination, especially for young spring break revelers. We thought about the carefree times of youth and the freedoms we often take for granted. Continuing eastbound we were confronted by a large line of thunderstorms. Normally they would have been nuisance, but today they were a testament of nature’s power and a vital and needed replenishment of our watersheds. Continuing eastbound a break in the clouds provided a beautiful view of the red rock country of Sedona, and off to the left, the Grand Canyon. Later came glimpses on the far horizon of Lake Powell and Monument Valley with personal memories of happier times.

Continuing eastbound we flew to the North of the Albuquerque area and thought about the labs and testing facilities that have stealthily contributed to give our nation its military supremacy for decades.

As we progressed eastbound, we flew over the oil country who’s hardscrabble fueled the early capitalization of our economy. There are always a lot of American flags flown in oil country. We flew over the wheat belt, the cornbelt, cattle country … the Bible belt. There are always a lot of American flags flown in the heartland.

We began our descent over the Mississippi river and thought about how it had been the economic engine of our nation’s adolescence, and its prevalence in our early culture and lore.

As we approached our destination, we found out from talking with the company that a good many of our passengers would not be able to make their connecting flights and would have to be accommodated overnight in Nashville. We gave the flight attendants the information to pass on to the passengers. Finally, with the sun setting behind us, we came upon the lights of Nashville. We thought about how there is nothing in our culture as quintessentially American as the music of Nashville. There are always a lot of American flags flown in Nashville.

As we touched down something remarkable happened. The passengers started clapping. It wasn’t cheering or applause, just polite clapping. The passengers were full of praise and gratitude as they wearily disembarked.

It wasn’t a job to fly them that night ... it was an honor.

As the last passenger said goodbye, the flight attendants thought that they would now be finally going home to Chicago, but were then asked by the operations agent to continue working the flight to Baltimore. To a person they agreed and resolutely went back to work preparing the cabin for the next flight.

God Blessed America
 
I had flown into Teterboro on 9/10 with an EJM ("Jetspeed" callsign) Hawker 800, flying the a/c owner's son, and another passenger. We were supposed to fly back home on the morning of 9/11. I was staying at a motel in Seacaucus, NJ, in the New Jersey Meadowlands. I had just gotten out of the shower and flipped on the TV, and saw the pictures of the first tower burning. I threw on a pair of pants, went to the elevator and punched the top floor button. A fire door led to the roof, and there were already a few people out there watching the buildings ablaze. I went back to the elevator and went to the lobby gift shop and bought a disposable camera and went back up to the roof. The camera didn't work, so I went back to get another one. Back on the roof, I was able to get a few pictures before the first tower collapsed. From then on the view was blocked by dust and smoke. I went to the lobby again and informed the desk clerk that the co-pilot and I would be staying there indefinitely! Later in the day, I was able to call the FBO to see if they had any rental cars available. They had two, and I gave them my credit card info to reserve both of them!
In the afternoon, I walked about a quarter mile to the Home Depot, where large pick-up trucks with NY plates would pull up to the loading area. The HD workers were just rolling out pallets of every imaginable usable supplies, from bottled water to generators to flashlights and lanterns and batteries, lumber, just anything that could be used for rescue. From the trucks jumped men covered on gray soot and ash, and with gray faces. They would quickly load whatever was out on the pallets, and speed off. As fast as they could roll the stuff out, there were trucks there to haul it to the city.
Until around noon, cell phones weren't working and there was no way to get in touch with home or work. One UPS driver was heard telling anxious bystanders that all of Washington, DC was on fire.
Late that evening, I walked to a road that crossed over the NJ Turnpike and walked down the embankment to get to the Turnpike. I was literally walking up and down the lanes of the Turnpike on the center lines of the road! The only thing you could hear was the sounds of sirens in the distance.
I was one of the first jets allowed to leave Teterboro three days later, but they were only letting planes that were Part 135 leave. I had flown in Part 91, so the owner's son's partner had to actually "charter" the plane to legally depart. As one of the other respondents stated earlier, we were really jinked around on the departure even though we were almost alone in the sky. The NY departures and center frequencies were eerily quiet on the flight home.
At least, we were going home!
 
silence

I was taking a PT test at Fort Drum that morning. I showered and zipped up the flight suit and drove across the base to work just like every other day of the week. When I arrived in the office, radios were on and somebody said some sort of airplane had hit one of the towers. I responded it was probably a spam can that had gotten careless and the wind turbulance had driven it into the building. Then all heck broke lose... we watched the other jet hit the building and everything started to kick into gear. The base came on line at 100%. Word came down that everybody was grounded... no exceptions. We made a maintenance list of all the aircraft and all the items we needed to make happen. The F-16's landed from another post and the tower bldg was converted to temp quarters for all the jet pilots. I've never seen so many tugs move so fast with so many weapons. I remember looking out into the sky... the deep blue sky with only a few clouds in it, straining to see something... anything... wondering if we would be a target. I surmised that if anything happened... it would be so quick we'd never know it until it was too late. The next day we started flying maintenance flights to get our birds ready to deploy if we needed to. We had a crew ready to go 24-7..... and the rest of us would go regardless... The oddest thing the next couple of days was the complete silence on Boston Center. I thought I had the wrong freq dialed in... but no... it was the correct one. No matter who we had dialed up... it was deadly quiet. I've never seen a team of people come together so quick (stateside)to get things going. It was surreal. A very special thank you goes to all the people who came together and to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
Best
Brian Wallis
 
United We Stand!!

I was on Day Two of a two day PT (proficiency training) in Denver at our United Flight Training Center. I had walked across the street from the hotel for a little breakfast before jumping into the "box". Pilots were standing around a small tv in our lobby that normally shows continuous loop safety videos. This particular morning it was on regular TV with a very grainy picture of the black smoke coming from the twin towers.

There in Denver at the training center, we were all in shock and hearing all sorts of crazy things coming from the instructors. I tried desperately to call home to Leesburg, VA to no avail. The phone lines were all jammed. When I finally did get through to my wife, she said that she heard that Washington Center had been bombed! The center facility is right there in Leesburg. We were hearing in the training center that the Air Force was about to shoot down one of our 777s. Like I said, all kinds of crazy rumors were out there.

We wound up spending the next five days there. Every day at around 13:00, the Director of Training would hold a briefing in the cafeteria on the status of the operation, if we still had an airline to work for, and when we might actually get to go home. In this normally cavernous cafeteria with only a handful of people at any given time, it was shoulder room only everyday at briefing.

The airline finally put together a series of flights (once we were allowed to), to get all the crews back to their domiciles. Our flight was a 747 that started in HNL and flew to the west coast, and then on to Denver picking up stranded flight crew as they went along. I got on at Denver at around midnight and we flew on to ORD, then onto Washington Dulles. It was a very surreal sight walking onto a 747 and seeing a sea of uniformed airline crew in every seat of that airplane!!

It was most definately a bit unnerving the first few days of getting back to work as a regular passenger carrying operation. I would eyeball everyone and would stand out in the jetway as folks boarded. Not only to reassure people brave enough to come flying with us, but to also look for suspicious looking people. There were no rules about any of this yet, so we were all playing it by ear. Suitcases packed up against the cockpit door, crash axes out and at the ready!! Such talk and even flight briefings about how we would girate the airplanes around to get terrorists off their feet should the need arise. Little did we know then what Airbus and Boeing thought of those ideas! And little did we know then what kind of lateral forces like that could do to a composite rudder on a large Airbus jet only a month later! Holy Cow!

There but for the grace of God, it could have been any one of us that fateful day!

I left yesterday morning (Septermber 10th) out of Boston out of gate C-19 (with the American flag atop), on flight 177 bound for SFO. Seven years later, it still made an impression on everyone on board. The weather across NYC and New England yesterday morning was spectacularily clear...

I still love my job as an airline pilot although it certainly is not the same as before. Not by a long shot. There was a time for a little while right after 9/11 that I couldn't work on the RV. I felt guilty even thinking about it after so many of our fellow Americans had lost their lives. It took a while to get through that and get back to enjoying our passion with aviation and building airplanes.

But here we are. I still have my job, my family, and my passion for all things aviation! We will never forget what happened on 9/11...not ever, EVER! As Americans, the best thing we can do is to continue to show those Ba$&^%$ that United We Stand!!
 
shock and sadness

Unlike many of you, I was at home watching TV in a very "controlled atmosphere", so you would think that I would be immune from the shock of the news. I must admit that I have never been so caught of guard and stunned.

I got out of bed that morning and walked down the stairs to the living room and about halfway down the stairs I saw the pictures on the TV of the first tower burning. I sat down on the sofa. My wife and I watched in horror. A few minutes later the second plane hit. About an hour after that I realized that I had not moved or spoken for the hour since the second plane hit. Worse, my mouth had "fallen open" for that hour and I couldn't speak. That's right, a fly could have flown in and landed on my tonsils. Worse again, at that point, having realized that my mouth was hanging open, I still could not close it or speak. I must admit that if I did this on any other day my family would have had me committed to the psycho hospital. But, as things were, we were all in shock and I suppose that no one noticed my lack of control. All in all I went about 2 hours before I could close my mouth and begin speaking. At that point I drove to my children's school, picked them up, and brought them home.

As I mentioned, I have never been so shocked and physically disabled as on 911, and I hope that I never go through anything like that again. How has 911 changed me? Seven years down the road, I check the news FIRST thing when I get out of bed. I just want to be sure that every thing is "normal".
 
Anthrax threats.......

.......have made our airplanes come under close scrutiny....our Ag airplanes, I mean. The FBI and other Federal agencies have visited us and given general guidelines to secure our airplanes either in the hangars, blocked by a tow tug or tractor so that they can't be stolen.

We were also urged to install a hidden master switch that disables the electrical system and only you know the location of said switch. A very easy anti-theft switch for all of us, BTW. A buddy of mine just put it on the panel, next to the other switches and labelled it 9/11.

Regards,
 
The Day after

9/11 affected eastern Canada somewhat differently than the rest of north America in that the government of Canada agreed to allow many airplanes that were on route to the United States to land here in the Maritimes and Newfoundland. This was done to ensure that any of them that may have had further terrorists on board did not get near any major population centers. The stories of small towns with big airports dealing with and instant doubling of thier populations are the source of some of the good stories that grew out of this horrible event. Gander Nfld. being the most affected.

As for me, I was a crime scene examination specialist at the time and was at a break and enter at a golf club. One of the club members came in and told us to turn the tv on and we watched slack jawed like everyone else. Unbelievably to me, some of the club members calmly went out and played their rounds!!

The next day, as in the rest of the continent, all traffic was grounded. I received a call to an Island in the Bay of Fundy between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, that if I drove would be a two day trip. It has a great airport, and I had used my 4 to go and work there on a few occasions before. I called transport Canada to see what the situation was and a very helpful individual pulled up the NOTAM that had been issued in Canada and it had the exception included "aircraft operated by police forces of jurisdiction" When I explained my wishes to fly to the island he reasoned that my flight would fall into this exception and gave me the procedures to file a special VFR flight plan. I did all that was requested and flew the flight. I had some testy responses from flight service people etc wondering what I was doing in the air. Very quite on the frequencies though.

I would have to be one of very few RV drivers in North America that has a flight on Sept 12 in my log book.

Joe Hine
RV4 C-FYTQ
 
being in the military....

and deployed in constant support of the "war on terror" we are constantly reminded of the tragic events of that fateful day....

but last night me and a good friend, who was at the pentagon when it was attacked, sat down for dinner and to remember the day and talk about our experiences......

and that was quite an experience!! i've never asked him about it before... and that was the first time i've ever heard 1st hand of someone who not only witnessed, but experienced the attacks...

minutes prior to the attack Tim had been in the section of the Pentagon that was destroyed... he and some colleagues had just left for a meeting at the White House, and were getting in a car in the parking lot when the plane hit.

that's the end of what i'm comfortable sharing... his story floored me. :( and angered the heck out of me too... :mad:
 
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