DL 9/11 stories?
Sep 14, 2014, 8:42 am
#31
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Center City, MN
Programs: DL Diamond, MM, Hilton, Marriott, Priority Club, etc
Posts: 436
I was in the air flying from MSP to MEM on 9/11 when the pilot came on and announced that all flights had been directed to land ASAP due to an incident in New York.
He said he did not have any details but they trying to figure out if we could make it to Memphis or if we would have to land somewhere else.
We did make it to Memphis and the only additional information that the pilot provided was that no flights were taking off for the moment.
When I got off the plane, I noticed that all the CNN TV monitors had been turned off and it seemed everyone was on their cell phone.
I didn't really hear the news until I was on the rental car bus.
I ended up keeping the rental car and driving back to Minneapolis on Friday and then driving it back a week later as I was going back and forth on a regular basis.
The thing I remember most about flying after 9/11 was how quiet the planes were for awhile.
People would get on and just sit - no conversations, no one was demanding PFB, everyone was just looking at all the other passengers.
I also remember feeling extremely sorry for a guy who I often saw on the flights who was from Pakistan and worked for Medtronic. So many people would give him the evil eye.
He said he did not have any details but they trying to figure out if we could make it to Memphis or if we would have to land somewhere else.
We did make it to Memphis and the only additional information that the pilot provided was that no flights were taking off for the moment.
When I got off the plane, I noticed that all the CNN TV monitors had been turned off and it seemed everyone was on their cell phone.
I didn't really hear the news until I was on the rental car bus.
I ended up keeping the rental car and driving back to Minneapolis on Friday and then driving it back a week later as I was going back and forth on a regular basis.
The thing I remember most about flying after 9/11 was how quiet the planes were for awhile.
People would get on and just sit - no conversations, no one was demanding PFB, everyone was just looking at all the other passengers.
I also remember feeling extremely sorry for a guy who I often saw on the flights who was from Pakistan and worked for Medtronic. So many people would give him the evil eye.
Sep 14, 2014, 7:31 pm
#32
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Western Wisconsin
Programs: DL DM, HH Devalued Diamond, Hertz President's Club
Posts: 800
I was not traveling that week. I was in our home office. We heard about the first plane and went to a conference room where we could hook up a TV. We watched it all unfold when our HR Director came in and informed us that the wife of one of our vice presidents was on flight 11 into the WTC. It was surreal to watch and as it unfolded even for that first hour, none of us in the Midwest ever thought we'd have a connection so close as a spouse to one of our own being murdered on that plane.
Sep 14, 2014, 8:41 pm
#33
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Likely being followed...
Programs: DYKWIA Extraordinaire. TrollSlayer Mega Diamond. [insert esoteric sounding status level(s) here]
Posts: 5,240
On 9/11 I was in my AP chem class in high school. I remember sitting there watching the news in class. I remember watching live as tower 1, and then tower 2, fell live infront of me. I'll never forget that. Me and my dad flew about a month after that out of MSP. Will also never forget the armed soldiers with M-16s walking the airport.
Add to the fact that we were a skip from MLB (the landing path was basically over the school) and it was a tense couple of days...