+1. Thanks for posting that, frogface63. I was reading old 9/11 threads a couple months back, but hadn't come across that one. There should be a "best of" for threads like that.

I was due to fly MAN-FRA on LH at around 18:30 on 9/11/2001. I assumed the flight would be cancelled, but went to the airport anyway. I was told that the flight was still OK.

Once through security, there used to be a sports bar at MAN T1 that had a big bank of TV's that made one giant TV. This had one of the UK news channels on, and there must have been 200 people standing and watching the replays of the planes hitting the towers.

My flight went without incident, but I noticed that nobody got out of their seats for the whole flight.

Cheers,
Rick

I should have been in San Francisco for a conference that I went to every year around that time. I don't remember why I didn't go that year. Instead, I was walking across the street to do a radio interview about something related to Northwest Airlines. Our media relations person told me that somebody had flown a plane into the WTC and we joked about how it must have been some idiot in a Cessna buzzing the tower. By the time we got to the studio, the topic of the interview had changed...

Mike

Who was in the air on 9/11? Share your memories
 

I'll start:

I was schedule to attend a trade show (Graph Expo) in Chicago with 3 colleagues on 9/11. Our flight from Newark to O’Hare (CO 1179, scheduled departure of 7:45AM) was delayed by the usual morning taxiway traffic (as was United 93, which never made it to the intended target as a result). I remember being angry that I was wedged into a window seat in coach (I think I was Gold at the time and often got the EUA to ORD, but not this time).

September 11th was a picture-perfect day with bright blue skies, and as we approached the turn to take off, the pilot came on the intercom and said, “It’s a beautiful day today and those of you sitting on the right side of the aircraft will get a spectacular view of the New York skyline”. Never before or since 9/11 have I had a pilot make such an announcement. The passengers, mostly business people, all but ignored his observation, not realizing that, by the time our flight landed in Chicago, we would be told that both towers had fallen and the world would never be the same again. I still get chills telling this story, wondering how the pilot decided to make this unusual observation on the day that the NY skyline would change forever.

When we landed in ORD, we still had no idea what had happened that day. Apparently our plan was close enough to ORD so that we did not have to divert to the closest airport when they grounded all aircraft. I remember noticing clearly that the plane took an unusual taxi from the runway to the gate, hugging the outer edges of the airport. When we got to the gate, the pilot came on the intercom and announced, "I have something to tell you that will upset you and will change your day". Then something about planes hitting the twin towers and the towers falling down. There was no way to comprehend what he was telling us. We deplaned, and ORD was a ghost town. All the TV's had been turned off. Everyone jumped on their cell phones to call their loved ones and to find out what had happened. Stories were passed around, "They crashed into the FBI, the CIA, the Pentagon".

We quickly cancelled our business plans and went to the Hertz rental area to get our "reserved" car and drive home. The line extended all around the complex, as many had not returned their cars as planned. After waiting hopelessly in line, I decided to see if I could work another angle, and somehow got a Hertz employee to help. He said to meet me at parking space 56 (and I'm thinking, why does he have to meet me there?). We get there - the car is a subcompact for the 4 of us, and he tells us that the battery needs to be jumped. We were so happy to have a car, we didn't argue. He jumped the car and off we went, stopping at the O'Hare oasis for Burger King (not because we were hungry, but because we had to eat). I remember us trying to decide whether to leave the engine running when we went inside to eat.

We then began our journey east to NJ, listening non-stop to the radio coverage of the day's events. In South Bend, we decided to see if we could get a larger car (we were way to big for this tiny car). I went into the desolate South Bend airport, where I first saw video of the towers falling. I convinced the Hertz clerk to trade our clown car for a "luxurious" Taurus - and it made a big difference. We spent the night somewhere in Ohio (watching President Bush address the nation in the lobby as we checked in).

We continued on the next day to NY, and to awaiting neighborhoods of concerned, welcoming, relieved families and neighbors. Especially my wife, who initially heard from Peter Jennings at the beginning of the day that a Continental jet on the way to Chicago was one of the planes involved.

Nice post. Another question. Who was on a plane that got diverted when all planes had to land at the closest airport. Did you stay at a hotel till the airports were opened or did you rent a car to either get back home or to your destination. I guess this would depend on how far you from your origin or destination. Did the airlines have to pay for your hotel or car rental since the situation was not weather related.

Or Canada, with no passport, for a week, what happens?

My question is why did everyone seem to feel the need to cancel everything and go home? I mean, 9/11 was a crazy day, but New York is a long way from Chicago. I was in Williamsburg VA at the time, and I remember wondering why terrorist attacks in NYC and DC = holiday in Williamsburg....

I was flying to Australia with a friend. They told us nothing the entire flight. When we got off the flight and every person interrogated for 3 hours as to why we were there, etc., they told us what had happened. I was to be in Australia for 2 months. All I wanted to do was go home, just to be with family and loved ones.
It doesn't matter, in a bad situation, all you want to do is be home, where everything is familiar where you feel safest.

I'm going to guess that at the time you were relatively young.

September 11th was the "Pearl Harbor" of our generation --- an attack so unnerving and surprising that the overall feeling of the country was shock and dismay.

When that happens, there's no work that's going to be done.

Really? Because you had foreseen knowledge that the "attack" was over? You were perfectly safe in Williamsburg, VA? You knew ahead of time this wasn't a multilevel attack, with planes being the first phase and what during the second, third phase?

Sure, none of these hypothetical alternatives transpired, however, your situational awareness needs an upgrade.

Well, Los Angeles is much farther than NYC and DC compared to Williamsburg and I can tell you everything stopped there as well. There was fear that more events could occur and high profile towns suddenly became aware of susceptibility to attacks from within the country.

I flew AMS-LHR. As I left the client site, there was a headline on the BBC ticker - we thought it was a stray light aircraft.

By the time we were airside at Schiphol, every television set was switched to the news, everybody staring in silence at the horrifying images.

The flight was subdued and uncomfortable. We were diverted due to closed airspace over central london.

I got home and phoned everyone. The evening was spent with a deep unease - at what might follow, whether more attacks, attacks on London, or an ill-judged reprisal that could spark something bigger.

Wow, all these stories are amazing.







That's a great way to describe it.

As I recall everything just stopped. I was at home, about to start my first year at uni. My parents had left the radio on in the kitchen and they announced a plane had crashed into the WTC- I thought it was an idiot in a cessna or something like that. So I turned on the telly and realised it wasn't. Dad (I think he was home sick) came in and we watched it. And I was having denial issues, I didn't want to believe that the things falling out of the windows were people, or the second aircraft was an airliner... People change - I guessed what 7/7 was as soon as it became apparent there were multiple explosions... didn't make it out of the house that day either.

11/7 I was in the National Archive and they announced there had been more terrorist attacks. We just looked at each other, shrugged, and went back to work.

Always remember, never surrender

I was intentionally home. I went with my wife to the OB/GYN for an ultrasound. Our daughter's first pic has that date on it.