This Date in Aviation History: September 11, 2001

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 09/11/2020 at 10:35 • Filed to: wingspan, Planelopnik, TDIAH

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September 11, 2001 – Terrorists hijack four commercial airliners and use them to attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A fourth attack targeting Washington, DC is thwarted by passengers.

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Smoke billow from the tower of the World Trade Center in New York City; rescue workers comb the through the collapsed section of the Pentagon in Washington, DC

September 11, 2001 dawned bright and clear on the East Coast as America started the routine of a normal autumn day. Passengers boarding early morning flights in Boston, Newark, and Washington, DC had no idea that they would soon be victims of a brazen, highly coordinated, and murderous attack on the United States carried out by a well-trained group of terrorists. Never before had airplanes been used as a weapon of terror on such a scale, and even though there had been !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! that an attack on the US was possible, even probable, nobody was prepared for the horrors that transpired that day.

The attacks were carried out by teams of terrorists organized and funded by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! terror network. The hijackers entered the US in the months ahead of September 11, and some even took flying lessons at American flight schools. One member of the group already possessed a commercial pilot’s license. On the day of the attack, 19 terrorists boarded the planes in groups of four or five. One member of each group was trained to fly the plane while the others provided the muscle to subdue the flight crew and passengers. The four airliners selected for the attack were all flying transcontinental routes that required large aircraft heavy with fuel. The aircraft were chosen to cause the greatest amount of damage to the intended targets.

Boeing 767 N334AA taxiing at Manchester Airport in April 2001

The first airliner to be hijacked was American Airlines Flight 11 , a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (N334AA) making a scheduled flight from Boston to Los Angeles. It departed at 7:59 a.m. (all times are given in Eastern Daylight Time) with a crew of 11 and carried 76 passengers. There were five hijackers on the flight, including the overall leader of the operation, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Once the airliner reached cruising altitude, the attackers rose from their seats, stabbed two of the flight attendants and sprayed mace in the first class cabin. They also claimed to have a bomb. While some of the attackers herded the passengers to the rear of the plane, the others gained access to the locked cockpit, perhaps after obtaining a key from one of the flight attendants. After gaining control of the aircraft, Atta turned off the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a device that allows controllers to identify and track the aircraft, and then turned the 767 towards New York City. One of the flight attendants, Betty Ong, contacted an American Airlines Reservation office and reported the hijacking. However, officials had no way of knowing the scope of the attack that had begun. At 8:46 a.m. the airliner struck the North Tower of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in Lower Manhattan, punching a gaping hole in the side of the building and erupting in a massive fireball that started a fuel-fed fire which soon engulfed the upper stories of the skyscraper. At first, witnesses believed that a terrible accident had taken place. No one imagined that an aircraft would be flown deliberately into a building.

Boeing 767-222 N612UA at San Francisco International in December 1999

The second airliner to be hijacked was another Boeing 767 (N612UA), United Airlines Flight 175 , also bound for Los Angeles. With 51 passengers and nine crew, the airliner took off from Boston at 8:14 a.m., just as the hijacking of Flight 11 was beginning. Following a similar scenario, the five hijackers claimed to have a bomb on board the plane, killed the pilots and took control of the aircraft, then moved the passengers and remaining crew to the rear of the plane. Passengers on board the flight made contact with loved ones and airline officials on the ground using cell phones and phones built into the seats. They provided information that would be crucial to the eventual understanding of the events that were unfolding. At 8:52 a.m., the hijackers turned the airliner toward New York City. Seventeen minutes after the first airliner struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center, Fight 175 slammed into the South Tower at 9:03 a.m. with the same devastating effect. One plane flying into a skyscraper could have been an accident. A second, within minutes of the first, was unimaginable. Government officials and air traffic controllers were only now beginning to suspect that a coordinated attack was under way.

Boeing 757-223 N644AA at Ronald Reagan National Airport in March 1995

The third airliner to be hijacked was American Airlines Flight 77 , a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (N644AA) scheduled to fly from Washington Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia to Los Angeles that departed at 8:20 a.m. with 58 passengers and a crew of six. Once the airliner reached its cruising altitude, the five hijackers, armed with knives and box cutters, moved against the cabin crew, though there were no reports of stabbings. Again, they herded the passengers and crew to the rear of the plane. It is not clear if the pilots were killed when the hijackers took control of the aircraft, but at 8:54 a.m. the transponder was turned off and primary radar contact with the aircraft was lost. The hijacker in control of the plane then turned south towards Washington, DC. At 9:29 a.m., air traffic controllers reestablished radar contact with the plane and learned that it was heading back towards northern Virginia at high speed. Five minutes later, the hijacker pilot made a final turn towards the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and advanced the throttles to full power. At 9:37 am the 757 smashed through the west side of the building at 530 mph. It took just eight-tenths of a second for the airliner to penetrate 310 feet through three of the Pentagon’s five rings.

Boeing 757-200 N591UA at an unknown location, photographed just three days before it was hijacked

The fourth airliner, United Airlines Flight 93 , was another Boeing 757 (N591UA). On board were seven crew members and 33 passengers, but only four hijackers (the man suspected of being the fifth hijacker had been denied entry to the US a month before). Flight 93 was scheduled to depart for San Francisco from Newark International Airport in New Jersey at 8:00 a.m. but, due to dense fog that morning, the flight did not take off until 8:42 a.m., just four minutes before the first 767 struck the World Trade Center. Even though the earlier hijackings had already taken place, it took some time for the FAA, air traffic controllers, and airline officials to realize that they were facing a scenario of multiple, simultaneous hijackings, and no warnings had been sent out to other aircraft departing at the same time. Flight 93 took off, the crew unaware of the events that were unfolding. The hijacking of Flight 93 began at 9:28 a.m. over eastern Ohio, and passengers and crew were again moved to the rear of the plane. However, the delay in departure meant that passengers who made calls to loved ones and officials on the ground were told of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and they realized that their aircraft was part of an organized attack on the United States. Huddled in the back of the plane, the passengers started discussing what, if anything, they could do.

They chose to fight back.

“Let’s roll”

Faced with almost certain death, the passengers on Flight 93 decided to make an assault on the front of the aircraft in an attempt to regain control of the airliner or, at the very least, stop the hijackers from hitting their target, which was later believed to be the US Capitol or the White House. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , one of the passengers who helped organize the attempt to retake the plane, was heard over an open phone line saying, “Are you ready? Okay. Let’s roll.” Another passenger ended her phone call to a loved one saying, “Everyone’s running up to first class. I’ve got to go. Bye.” At 9:57 a.m. the passengers’ began their assault on the terrorists. Sounds of a struggle could be heard in the background over the open phone lines. The hijacker flying the plane, Ziad Jarrah, realized that the passengers were fighting the other hijackers in the first class cabin and initiated a series of violent maneuvers in an attempt to disrupt the assault, but muffled sounds of the battle continued to be captured on the cockpit voice recorder. When Jarrah realized that the passengers would soon gain entry to the cockpit and that the terrorists’ mission to strike the nation’s capital would not succeed, he rolled the 757 onto its back and dove earthward, impacting the ground near Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 10:03 a.m. at a speed of 563 mph. Flight 93 was only 20 minutes from Washington, DC.

The Wall of Names at the Flight 93 Memorial in Pennsylvania

Once the full scope of the attack was understood, officials implemented part of the plan called the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (SCATANA), “an emergency preparedness plan which prescribes the joint action to be taken by appropriate elements of the Department of Defense (DOD), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the interest of national security in order to effect control of air traffic and air navigation aids under emergency conditions.”   The plan, devised to protect the nation in the event of a nuclear attack, limits the use of American airspace to military and other official flights. However, it was not fully implemented on September 11, as the DOD left the FAA in charge of the air traffic control system, and left radio navigational aids operating to assist the thousands of aircraft still in the air over the US to land safely, or to divert to alternate airports.

At 9:42 a.m., five minutes after Flight 77 struck the Pentagon, FAA National Operations Manager Ben Sliney made the unprecedented call to immediately land all aircraft already in flight over the US and to place a ground stop on all aircraft awaiting takeoff. Incoming international flights were ordered to turn back if they had enough fuel, or to land at airports in Canada or Mexico. By approximately 12:15 pm, American airspace was completely cleared of commercial and civilian air traffic. To the north, the Canadian military took control of their airspace with the implementation of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (ESCAT). Incoming airliners, and those diverted from the US, were directed to airports away from major Canadian cities such as Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Canada ultimately took in 255 aircraft at 17 different airports across the country. Some airports were overwhelmed with aircraft, as a certain percentage of all the aircraft in North America must be in the air at any given time. There is simply not enough room to put them all on the ground at once and still maintain operations.

The airport at Gander, Newfoundland following September 11

In all, 2,977 people were killed in the September 11 attacks, a number which does not include the 19 hijackers. Of that total, 246 were passengers on the four airliners hijacked that day. Civilian flights in the US resumed on September 13, but the inevitable changes to airline travel have made the flying experience much different than it was before 9/11. Cockpit doors were armored and secured. Airport security was federalized with the creation of the Transportation Security Administration. Passenger screening was greatly expanded, no-fly lists were created for those individuals who are on terrorist watch lists, and the non-flying public was barred from entering the gate area of airports. But beyond the physical changes to our airports, and the procedural changes to how we fly, the heroism and courage displayed by the passengers on Flight 93 in the face of certain death changed the way the world faces the threat of air terrorism. The actions of Todd Beamer and his fellow passengers on September 11, 2001 emboldened the flying public to stand against terrorism, and fight back in any way possible. It is unlikely that hijackers will find an airplane full of submissive victims in the future.

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Sources : !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ; !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ; !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ; Wikipedia (various).

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Chariotoflove > ttyymmnn 09/11/2017 at 12:45

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...a number which does not include the 19 hijackers...

As it shouldn’t. God forgive me for saying it, but those were not people. They were animated sewage.

Xyl0c41n3 > Chariotoflove 09/11/2017 at 12:48

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Nope, they were people. Awful, evil people. To deny that they were, in fact, people, is to refuse to acknowledge the atrocities that we humans are capable of. And if we don’t acknowledge that potential for evil to spring within the hearts of men, then we can never effectively combat that evil and overcome it.

ttyymmnn > Chariotoflove 09/11/2017 at 12:48

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Fuck ‘em.

Xyl0c41n3 > ttyymmnn 09/11/2017 at 12:50

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As always, well written, ttyymmnn.

Had goosebumps pretty much the entire time I was reading. Reading and remembering what I was doing and where I was that day and the fear that I, along with everyone else, felt. Thank you for sharing. May we never forget the horror of that day, but also, may we never forget the incredible bravery, too.

Chariotoflove > Xyl0c41n3 09/11/2017 at 12:51

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You are absolutely right. What I should do is reach down deep and think about how they were once 19 innocent little babies as pristine as any of us. That’s the way to forgiveness and understanding. But, my goodness it’s hard when I think of all the people who suffered at their hands.

ttyymmnn > Xyl0c41n3 09/11/2017 at 12:52

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Thanks. They say the secret to good writing is rewriting. This is a rework of last year’s post, and I’ve read it many, many times and there are still things I’d change. But my goal was to make it both informational and compelling without being sensational. Thanks for reading.

My hovercraft is full of eels > ttyymmnn 09/11/2017 at 12:58

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Everyone says this, but I remember that day almost perfectly. It lives so vivid in my memory if it happened yesterday. I remember what class I had (I was attending university at the time), the teacher, the topic we discussed. How I hopped on a bus and got home (we are EST + 7). My brother was using the only computer we had, so I turned on the TV, surfed the channels, and stopped at CNN.
I remember calling my best friend, and telling him to turn on the TV. He moved into a new apartment a couple of days earlier, and he told me the cable company hadn’t hooked up his television yet. “Then go over to your naighbours, you have to see this” - I replied.

Xyl0c41n3 > Chariotoflove 09/11/2017 at 12:58

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You know, lots of people are commenting about 9/11 today, as they do every year, but one thing struck me this year. I was reading a comment from a friend who’s got little kids (under the age of 10). He was talking about how it’s been 16 years since that day and two new generations of children have been born who don’t have any tangible, firsthand connection to what happened on 9/11, yet they are (and have been) growing up in a world that hates that day, that hates the people who made that day happen. His suggestion was that maybe it’s this new generation of children who will be able to make the strides to overcome the endless cycle of “hate begets hate” that we haven’t been able to.

I hope that’s possible. I don’t know how to make it possible, but I hope it’s possible. All I do know is that, like you said, those 19 people were babies once. Babies who didn’t know hate or fear or violence. Babies who were eventually taught those things and grew into men worthy of scorn and revulsion.

How do we stop passing down our hate to our children? How do we stop passing down our wars to them?

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn 09/11/2017 at 13:00

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Thanks. Re-reading this brought back so many memories of that day, where I was, what I was doing, and all the rumors that were flying around (the vast majority of which turned out to be wrong— thankfully).

It also brings back many memories of days before, when I was traveling on early morning flights operating nowhere near capacity, and how random it is that those people were on those flights that day. So many lives cut short (and so many more after that, too).

But I still try to remember all of the heroic acts that day - there were so so many, by so many people.

Xyl0c41n3 > ttyymmnn 09/11/2017 at 13:00

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I read last year’s version, too. Both are good. This edit is pretty well polished, though.

ttyymmnn > My hovercraft is full of eels 09/11/2017 at 13:04

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I’m sure we all do. I was working in a computer lab at the University of Texas. I opened up that day at 8 am, ignorant of what was going on. My wife, who also works at UT, called me to tell me that a plane had crashed into the WTC. She sounded shaken, and I said that I was sure it was an accident and that the NYFD would take care of it. Of course, nobody yet knew the full scope of the day’s events. The Internet was overwhelmed, so getting any information form the Web was next to impossible, and teachers had wheeled TVs into the hallways so people could watch. I saw the second building fall.

While I feel it is important to remember what happened, I refuse to look at any imagery from that day. It is still raw, and I’d rather not dredge up the emotions. I tried to write this post from the historian’s perspective, to be informative and compelling without being lurid, sensational or jingoistic. There is enough of that going on right now. The story told today, 16 years on, should be one of the survivors, the first responders, the simple folk who became heroes that day.

Chariotoflove > Xyl0c41n3 09/11/2017 at 13:06

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It starts with the parents of those babies. We have to refuse to hate and to find the reasonable person inside everyone we meet (not these zealots; it’s too late for them to be reasonable, but everyone else).

I think back to JFK. I don’t know about you, but I’m too young to remember him personally. Yet, he has become the opposite of 9/11. He was turned into a symbol of hope and pride for the generations that came after. So, maybe we can start by remembering the heroism and the coming together people did after this catastrophe...like Mr. Rogers said. And we can remember that the muslims in our country and around the world mourned as well as reached out a helping hand.

Viggen > ttyymmnn 09/11/2017 at 13:25

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I haven’t been on Oppo much since June, but came back today just in the hopes you’d make this post. I was only eight, but everything about that day, the following day, and various other points in late 2001 are so clear in my memory. Coming home from school and watching the replays, President Bush’s speech, waking up the next day and seeing my mom watching TV, she clearly hadn’t slept much, and still seeing smoke and dust pouring from Ground Zero, and then of course, our invasion of Afghanistan. There was never fear, just anger, hate, and a desire to do something . I probably would have enlisted the next day had I been of age.

I’ve visited Ground Zero a few times, the first time, the neighboring buildings were still damaged and the subway station at Ground Zero was closed, perhaps still being cleared of debris. I was deployed in Afghanistan in 2013. On September 11 of that year I remember watching the sun set over the mountain next to Kandahar Air Base, and kicking a pebble across the flight line. It brought closure to that anger and hate from twelve years prior.

But in the same way people remember where they were on Pearl Harbor or President Kennedy’s assassination, we’ll remember the fallen and never forget the heroic acts of those who gave their lives trying to save others on that sunny, clear September day.

bhtooefr > Xyl0c41n3 09/11/2017 at 13:32

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Would it be fair to say, instead of “2,977 people were killed in the September 11 attacks”, that “2,977 victims were killed in the September 11 attacks”?

That doesn’t deny the humanity of the attackers, while also not counting them alongside the actual victims.

TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn 09/11/2017 at 13:32

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That was a hard day. I was on my daily commute when my wife called. We talked of what it meant - whether it was intentional or an accident. I walked into work just in time to watch the second impact playing on the monitors all around the campus. That’s when we knew for sure.

The world had changed.

Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever > ttyymmnn 09/11/2017 at 13:35

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Thanks for sharing, and well penned, as always.

One of my clearest memories from that time period was the reopening of airspace. I had traveled to Atlanta for a car show when flight was reopened. Eight or so of us at a friends parents house, on the back porch having drinks and a barbecue, all stopped dead in our tracks and looked up when a plane flew overhead. It was odd seeing/hearing a plane after a couple days of empty skies (especially given the reason for the empty skies).

ttyymmnn > Viggen 09/11/2017 at 13:37

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Well said. And I was a bit surprised when your name popped up in my notifications; it had been a while since I had seen it.

I think you hit the nail on the head. We all desperately wanted to do something . I think that one of the things that makes terrorism so effective is that we feel helpless in the face of it. But I also believe that Todd Beamer and the passengers on Flight 93 showed us all that we don’t have to be sheep led to the slaughter. Yes, people will die, but as long as we refuse to cower in fear we will survive and be able to push back.

I know it’s become somewhat of a cliché these days, but thank you for serving. It’s a hell of a job, and I we are all blessed that there are people who are called to be soldiers, LEOs, firefighters, paramedics, and even middle school teachers, because these are all jobs that I don’t think I could ever do.

ttyymmnn > Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever 09/11/2017 at 13:39

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My father was on a safari in Africa on 9/11. They heard about it over a satellite radio tuned to the BBC. He flew back on a 747 that had maybe 50 people on it. He said it was a profoundly eerie experience.

Xyl0c41n3 > bhtooefr 09/11/2017 at 14:02

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Oh, my objection wasn’t to the fact that ttyymmnn didn’t include the 19 hijackers in his count of how many people died. Fuck them. They SHOULDN’T be included in that count, as far as I’m concerned. My objection was to the comment that the hijackers weren’t people. They WERE people. The most awful example of people, but people nonetheless. Like I said to chariot, we’ve gotta be willing to face our ugly side if we ever want to be able to overcome it.

Mercedes Streeter > ttyymmnn 09/11/2017 at 18:29

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If I recall correctly, I was seven that year. I was getting ready for school as the North Tower burned on Live TV in the kitchen. My brain was admittedly too young to understand the full scope of what happened. I knew something extremely bad happened, but not much else.

I made my bus and got to school...but that day was different. We were hurried off the buses and hunkered down in our classrooms. We were in the same positions we always took for lockdown drills, but this was not any drill. The teacher flipped on the TV in the classroom, sadly the South Tower was burning too by that time. The teacher was locked in place, she couldn’t explain to us kids what exactly was happening. We were freaking out, we were scared, we were crying. We spent the rest of the day like this, in fact I think they let us go home early after the FAA started grounding every commercial plane.

Even once I learned why this happened, I (likely along with most Americans) had no idea how the future would be different..

Reading this post sends shivers down my spine. As always ttyymmnn, your writing is absolutely top notch. 

ttyymmnn > Mercedes Streeter 09/11/2017 at 18:34

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I’m not sure the teacher did you any favors by having the TV on while you were in lockdown mode. That’s a great recipe for traumatizing young kids.

Thanks, Miss Mercedes. I appreciate that. I’d like to think that I’ve been getting better at this!

ttyymmnn > Mercedes Streeter 09/11/2017 at 18:34

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I’m not sure the teacher did you any favors by having the TV on while you were in lockdown mode. That’s a great recipe for traumatizing young kids.

Thanks, Miss Mercedes. I appreciate that. I’d like to think that I’ve been getting better at this!

Mercedes Streeter > ttyymmnn 09/11/2017 at 18:48

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You’re so welcome!  I always love reading your updates!

Thankfully it looks like my class didn’t get too traumatized (I graduated with most of those people) but yeah, that was a huge risk doing what she did...though understandable!

Roundbadge > ttyymmnn 09/12/2017 at 13:03

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Missed this post yesterday.

I was 26. My memory of the day:

A regular customer of mine walked into the lumber yard I was working at to pick up some roofing supplies. After getting his stuff rung up, I handed him his receipt and he commented, “Did you hear someone flew a plane into the WTC?” I brushed it off as a Cory-Lidle-type accidental small plane crash (obviously CL’s crash hadn’t happened yet). Eventually someone said that no, it was was in fact an airliner.

We turned on the radio just in time to hear the second plane crash. I remember hearing a radio report, after the Pentagon crash, that a car bomb had gone off in front of the State Department and everyone was decending into panic...even in small-town Ohio where I was. Another customer, a Vietnam vet came in, and told me to kiss my ass goodbye because I was going to be drafted and deployed...then called me a “chicken-shit draft dodger” when I asked him where I’d be sent, as it was a terrorist attack of unverified (at the time) origin.

Later in the day, I had to go to one of our other locations to pick something up for a customer, and passed a long line of cars at a gas station where the price had already been jacked up to $3.50/gal. A kid at the other store told me, “You better stop on your way home! It’s already $7/gal in Florida!”

The next day, police & sheriff’s deputies were posted at all governmental buildings. A county employee came in to pick some stuff up, and some other fool asked him, “Is the courthouse still standing?” He replied, “I really wish you hadn’t said that...because now I have to go file a report with the Sheriff’s Department and tell people this story three or more times. We still don’t know fully what’s going on, and assholes like you aren’t helping things.”

Even in small-town Ohio, the uncertainty was insane. I remember looking up at the sky, not seeing any contrails, and being amazed. Wright Patterson AFB had some in and out traffic, and some of that was a little lower and faster than normal. People were freaking out about low-flying jets. I didn’t actually see any of those, myself.

ttyymmnn > Roundbadge 09/12/2017 at 13:09

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Here in Austin, I don’t remember much panic. I do remember finishing my shift as usual then going home. Then we just hunkered down in front of the TV. My real anxiety came when I had to leave town the following Thursday. I was not crazy about having to leave my wife home alone.

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn 09/11/2018 at 10:51

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Today is a Tuesday also, and the weather here in Chicago is pretty much exactly the same as it was on 9/11/01. Clear as a bell, perfectly comfortable temperature, and no wind to speak of. Oddly, I haven’t even heard a jet go overhead in quite a while (I’m close enough to MDW and ORD that jets are flying by all the time) Normally, I love days like this, but instead, it feels a bit uneasy.

Thanks for re-posting, it’s a good reminder of the terrible things that happened that day, and what we lost.

someassemblyrequired > ttyymmnn 09/11/2018 at 10:56

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From CBC Newfoundland, from a couple of weeks ago. It’s mostly about Come From Away, but there’s quite a bit of background/footage on what happened in Gander on and right after 9/11 .

someassemblyrequired > ttyymmnn 09/11/2018 at 10:58

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Here’s another angle from YQX:

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ttyymmnn > WilliamsSW 09/11/2018 at 11:03

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I struggled with reposting this. It’s history, of course, and we must remember it. But there so much heavy news and pessimism in the world lately that I wasn’t sure we needed to be reminded of it. But as I proofed the post this morning (this is basically a re-post from last year, with some tweaks to the copy), I realized that it is a story that needs to be told. Because it is not just a story of tragedy, but it is also a story of true heroism and patriotism. The passengers who willingly gave their lives to protect our country is patriotism in its highest and purest form, not the posturing of bloated windbags who bloviate across social media. We need to remember what true  patriotism looks like. We have to be reminded that nationalists are not patriots. 

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > ttyymmnn 09/11/2018 at 11:05

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I heard about it on the radio driving to work. We all just stat there in a daze that day going “OH FUCK” what just happened. There were many co workers and family members stranded due to the air travel stoppage, which IIRC took weeks if not months to get back up to normal levels. Good friends of ours were scheduled to leave on their honey moon that day from Sacramento and did not depart due to the air travel suspension.

ttyymmnn > someassemblyrequired 09/11/2018 at 11:06

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I visited Gander back in the 80s during an epic family drive through the Maritimes and up to Newfoundland. At the time, I didn’t know much about its vital role in the history of transatlantic aviation. That photo looks like Newfie weather, too. ;)

ttyymmnn > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 09/11/2018 at 11:08

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My father was in Africa at the time on a wildlife safari (shooting cameras, not guns). They learned about it from the BBC over a satellite radio. When he flew home from London on a 747, there were maybe 20 passengers on the plane. 

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > ttyymmnn 09/11/2018 at 11:11

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One thing that struck me about your write up was how empty the planes were on those main routes, we are talking about 130-160 seat planes . These days you would be hard pressed to be on a plane at any thing less than 90% full.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > ttyymmnn 09/11/2018 at 11:11

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I was in sixth grade homeroom when it happened and i remember calling my mom from the school office telephone because I knew my grandma was in New York on a business trip. She was actually in Albany, New York, but being a panic stricken 6th grader who didnt have a strong grasp of geography of places outside chicagoland i thought the worst.thankfully and obviously she was alright, i do remember her canceling her return flight home and her and some coworkers rented a car to drive back to chicago

BigBlock440 > ttyymmnn 09/11/2018 at 11:13

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Seeing those pictures of the planes that hit the WTC, I can see where the conspiracy argument of “they didn’t have windows” comes from. Just based on the size of those planes, and being hidden in the stripe of the American one, it would be difficult to see on a moving picture. And video quality was much worse back then too, so even stills may still have not had easily identifiable windows.

7th grade science, the math teacher came in and told my teacher to turn on the TV just after the 1st plane hit. Me being a 12 year old little shit made a crack to my friend sitting next to me about it being a madman, with visions of Die Hard in my mind. Terrorist wasn’t really part of my vocabulary before then.  A s soon as we say the second plane hit, I turned to him and said “see? told you it was a madman” or something of the sort.

ttyymmnn > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 09/11/2018 at 11:13

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Yup. And they are only adding more planes in the future. It’s a good time to be a pilot.

So Shiney. So Chrome! So Frunky > ttyymmnn 09/11/2018 at 11:14

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Very well put.

ttyymmnn > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 09/11/2018 at 11:15

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I am thankful that I was an adult and had no children at the time. But I had to drive out of town the following weekend and was loathe to leave my wife. It’s frightening how vulnerable we all felt after that morning. But isn’t that the whole point of terrorism?

ttyymmnn > BigBlock440 09/11/2018 at 11:17

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I have no truck with the conspiracy theorists. 

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn 09/11/2018 at 11:19

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Well said- I think that it’s a story that needs to be re-told, to remember those patriots and heroes appropriately.  

BigBlock440 > ttyymmnn 09/11/2018 at 11:23

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It’s been a while since I’ve heard anything on that front, I just remembered that being one of their arguments, and seeing the pictures of the actual planes, I can see how it wasn’t such an absurd claim in itself that they didn’t have windows, it’s just that the planes themselves were so damn big, people sized windows were hard to see, especially when the only planes you see are 737 or smaller. I like to think they were just mi sguided, or at least most of them.

So Shiney. So Chrome! So Frunky > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 09/11/2018 at 11:24

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I was a sophomore in high school in the same area. Since our fancy interlinked TV system of our school had been blown out by lighting the month before we had very little idea of what was going on. Just a little listening to the radio in 2 classes and a lot of rumors.

I do remember hearing sonic booms as fighters from the Great Lakes Naval station were catching up to a few airliners still in the air. I heard later on that the pilots were instructed to “intercept at all costs. If you run out of fuel, eject”. They just went balls to the wall to make sure they got to the few airliners that could still be a threat and didn’t worry about having enough fuel to land. 

ttyymmnn > BigBlock440 09/11/2018 at 11:28

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People who try to warp facts to  fit their own agenda are not misguided. They are liars.

So Shiney. So Chrome! So Frunky > ttyymmnn 09/11/2018 at 11:32

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The day after my Dad attached a flag to the arm of a small crane he had and parked it on top of the hill on his property which is the highest point for miles around in pretty flat farm country. It was visible for miles in every direction . Like a giant raised fist, defiant , and angry .

It was a terrible day but I remember a real sense of unity, something I feel we could use a little more of in this country these days.

ttyymmnn > So Shiney. So Chrome! So Frunky 09/11/2018 at 11:34

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Agreed. Let’s hope it doesn’t take 2,000 more dead civilians to find that unity.

DipodomysDeserti > ttyymmnn 09/11/2018 at 11:38

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I was a freshman in high school and had just woken up when my stepmom told me that a plane had accidently flown into the World Trade Center. I turned on the news just as the second plane flew into the South Tower. I remember my dad frantically making calls back East to make sure all of our family members were safe. Still get goosebumps thinking about it and have a hard time keeping it together when I see that footage of people running through Manhattan covered in ash.

functionoverfashion > ttyymmnn 09/11/2018 at 11:43

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I was in college, in class. We didn’t know until after class. I went to the student union and the place was packed, silent, everyone just staring at the TV speechless. Trying to call family with no luck because you couldn’t get through. Being in New York state, tons of fellow students had family in NYC, lots of them worked in the WTC buildings, too. Everyone “knew someone who...”

My sister was touring the Capitol building in DC that morning.

I still have chills right now just thinking about it.

Thanks for sharing; it reminds me that current high school - even college - students have no recollection or memory of this. 

DipodomysDeserti > BigBlock440 09/11/2018 at 11:43

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Anyone who thinks the windows on airplanes are people- sized has probably never been near an airplane.

BigBlock440 > ttyymmnn 09/11/2018 at 11:48

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So from the perspective of somebody who saw a plane “ without” windows fly into the tower, you’d be the liar warping facts to fit your agenda. Operation Northwoods is a thing that exists, I can see why someone who thought they saw a windowless plane would be skeptical of the official narrative.  I’m just saying that this is the first time I’m seeing pictures of the actual planes, and I can see where the windowless claims come from now.

BigBlock440 > DipodomysDeserti 09/11/2018 at 12:04

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Lots of people don’t fly, so that’s probably likely.

Also, smaller regional jets have windows that are much larger sized proportionally to the fuselage than the big ones do.  

DipodomysDeserti > BigBlock440 09/11/2018 at 12:06

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And I’d say people who have never flown are much more likely to believe in wingnut conspiracy theories.

BigBlock440 > DipodomysDeserti 09/11/2018 at 12:08

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I don’t know if I’d believe that distribution, I’m pretty sure Jesse Ventura has flown.  I doubt flying has anything to do with it.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > BigBlock440 09/11/2018 at 12:08

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I was a bit younger in 5th grade. i didnt know anything about it until i got home and tried to watch my cartoons, and instead on Yu gi oh,  the news was on. Even though it was clearly the new I thought it was just a movie, because something like that just didn’t seem possible.

wasn’t till my dad got home that I realized it was real.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > ttyymmnn 09/11/2018 at 12:09

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It was night time for me when the news hit. I remember being what would be the equivalent of my junior year of high school back in Asia, with CNN breaking the news as we got ready for dinner time. It was shocking and difficult to process what it all meant. Was the first crash an accident? HOW?? And then seeing the second plane hit the WTC too, it was chilling. My mom worked for the UN and had coworkers in Manhattan – she had in fact just visited for the first time not long before then. Having grown up in a country with active terrorist attacks the mayhem and confusion that many were feeling that day was pretty close to what I was already used to – but in America? That’s where people have better lives and go to make something for themselves, to move on from violence. It was super confusing seeing a place known to be safe from what many in the world go through on a regular basis now being subjected to it. Not in a “ha, now you get to suffer too” way but in a “no place is truly safe, this is horrible” way.

On top of that, my brother was in college in the US at the time. Being a few hours behind NYC in Utah he was still asleep when we called. He didn’t understand why we were calling him to tell him the World Trade Center was under attack – he thought we were talking about the WTC back home. I didn’t fully grasp it back then, but my parents were worried sick about him in the aftermath too. Being a young brown immigrant in the US at the time, without a single other family member around. News reports of Sikhs and other Asian immigrants being attacked after that day weren’t comforting one bit. But at the same time we understood the feelings of helplessness and wanting to do SOMETHING to protect your loved ones. Unrelated but growing up my parents would get so mad at me if I stopped by someplace in the city with my friends on my way home from school, or didn’t call when I said I would. But thinking back to those days and now being a parent – I can’t imagine how terrifying it must’ve been to be a parent living through terrorist attacks, and still trying to give them the freedom to have some sense of normalcy at the same time.

Anyway, that was a horrible day and so many innocent people lost their lives. It’s sad to think but I don’t know if we’ve moved forward from that day in a positive way – I don’t know if that’s even possible. The terrorists got exactly what they wanted, down to the racial tension that carries on to this day. But at the same time many of the reactions were completely human and expected – so maybe it’s just part of the process. Not to say that politicians didn’t make horrible mistakes/decisions stemming from that day that they should’ve avoided – a huge chunk of the world, the US included, is still in horrible disarray as a result of those decisions. The current president’s claims of having seeing brown people dancing in the streets after 9/11 happened is yet another political decision meant to sow distrust for their own gain at the country’s/world’s expense. I live in the US now, with a wife and newborn daughter. I hope we can build a better life for her generation than what many have had to endure over the last 2 decades. I don’t know if we’ll ever move beyond 9/11/01 but if we do, it can’t come soon enough to avoid further harm.

I thought this Op Ed on the NYT this morning was pretty thought provoking - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/10/opinion/911-lessons-veteran.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

p.s. - the comments are truly worth the read too, as are many of the responses to this thread on Oppo , sort by “readers picks”.

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > ttyymmnn 09/11/2018 at 12:12

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I think everyone who was alive can tell you where they were that day. The world definitely changed after the attacks, which is also tragic.

One thing that really stands out to me reading the story 17 years later, is just how empty the planes were. 51 passengers on a 767 from NY to LA. That is nuts to think about in this day of every flight being over booked.

DipodomysDeserti > BigBlock440 09/11/2018 at 12:19

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Jesse Ventura came out six years ago and said he stopped flying, so maybe he just forgot what planes looked like. That or the only way for him to make money is to trick  ignorant rubes into listening to his nonsense.

ttyymmnn > DipodomysDeserti 09/11/2018 at 12:25

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I do my best to avoid imagery of that day. Which is why I chose photos that don’t depict the planes actually hitting the towers, people plunging to their deaths, terrified people running. While I remember the events, I try not to remember the feelings.

ttyymmnn > functionoverfashion 09/11/2018 at 12:26

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Thanks for sharing; it reminds me that current high school - even college - students have no recollection or memory of this.

It wasn’t that long ago, but my oldest wasn’t born until 2002. I will be interested to hear how they teach it to him in history class.  

ttyymmnn > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 09/11/2018 at 12:28

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Thank you for your comment.

So Shiney. So Chrome! So Frunky > ttyymmnn 09/11/2018 at 12:46

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No kidding.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > ttyymmnn 09/11/2018 at 14:09

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Thanks for your post. Excellent - factual and helps us take a minute to stop and reflect. 

someassemblyrequired > ttyymmnn 09/11/2018 at 14:48

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Definitely. Fun fact about Gander: the street s are laid out in the shape of a Canada Goose’s head.

ttyymmnn > someassemblyrequired 09/11/2018 at 15:04

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Is that on purpose? I see you had to invert your map.

someassemblyrequired > ttyymmnn 09/11/2018 at 15:11

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Yep, it’s by design, I was just too lazy to figure out how to flip it over in Google Maps.

Derpwagon > ttyymmnn 09/12/2018 at 01:51

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That day shaped the lives of generations. I was a freshman in high school. Math class. We got called next door to the history class and watched the smoking buildings on the TV... the whole school was then called into the auditorium until the decision was made to send people home.

In less than two weeks I leave for my third deployment in 14 years with the National Guard. Had that day not happened, I don’t know that I’d have joined, but I know as a result of that day I have spent my entire adult life in the military. There are memories I wouldn’t trade for the world, and experiences I wouldn’t wish upon anyone. Overall net good, I think, but... the catalyst tempers it in ways that I find difficult to express.

Hell of a thing. Still weird to sit down and try to process it 17 years later.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > ttyymmnn 09/11/2019 at 11:02

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Yeah, 7th grade, maybe. 7 year olds, no way...