Dear 9/11 Memorial: Flight Crews Were First Responders, Too

Something has bothered me on a very personal level about the 9/11 Memorial and Museum ever since it opened. Thanks to the efforts of the Savvy Stews to get it fixed, the time seems right to write about it here.

Have you had the opportunity to visit the museum? Did you notice the fees? Without factoring in the cost of a tour, general admission looks like this:

• Adult: $24
• Senior, College Student or U.S. Veteran: $18
• Youth: $15
• Museum Member: Free

Then there’s the “special consideration groups” that receive discounted admission:

• FDNY/NYPD/PAPD: $12
• Active/Retired U.S. Military: Free
• 9/11 Family Member: Free
• 9/11 Rescue and Recovery Worker: Free

Does anyone seem to be missing from that list of discounts meant to recognize specific groups directly affected by the events of 9/11 (and then some)? Perhaps, say, some people whose very job it was (and continues to be, more than ever) to be the front lines of a hijacking?

Call us crazy, but crewmembers kind of think we had an intimate role in that day, too. It’s quite hurtful for our relationship to be classified as random “adults”.

The Savvy Stews further point out that the memorial list of first responders who lost their lives that day does not include the crewmembers. Some of the online attention for the movement to have the flight crews recognized has broken down into disputes over whether flight attendants should be considered “first responders” or not.

Aside from such arguments being petty and totally missing the point, they should take them to photos like this one, of a plaque in the museum itself that states:

Flight crews aboard the hijacked aircraft were the first to respond to the 9/11 attacks.

And this one, showing Asiana flight attendant Lee Yoon Hye, her tailbone broken, carrying a passenger away from the wreckage of Flight 214 on her back.

I would also point out that flight attendants were the first source of information on 9/11, relaying what they knew about the hijacking and perpetrators in a professional capacity. It’s thanks to American Airlines flight attendant Betty Ong that we so quickly knew names and seat numbers of the hijackers, as well as how the attacks were carried out. She didn’t call her mom to say she loved her, she called American Airlines’ Operations Control Center, grounding flights all over the U.S. and potentially save countless lives.

I could kiss Charlie Leocha for writing this article and his recognition that crews made a very direct and professional sacrifice on that day, too, yet they are repeatedly overlooked for it.

No pilot or flight attendant chooses to do this job because we think it can’t happen to us. On the contrary, we spend a minimum of six weeks studying all the things that could endanger our flights and how to respond. Everyone up there has carefully thought through the “what ifs” of the job — see: here, here, here, here, here and/or here — and throughout our careers, we’ll have to keep metabolizing those “what ifs” regularly in order to keep working in spite of the accidents and tragedies that will undoubtedly happen during our tenure.

For us, not a single workday goes by in which the presence of 9/11 is not felt. We cannot separate it out of our daily existence. It’s a main character in every crewmember’s story. What a hollow feeling to go to the Memorial and find that the reverse is not true, to see pretty much every involved group but crewmembers recognized for their professional involvement.

We don’t need to be called heroes, but considering our relationship as something a bit more intimate than “adult” would certainly seem appropriate.

To support the Savvy Stews in their effort to have crewmembers recognized by the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, click here.

 

[Photo: 9/11 Memorial]