It’s 9/11…..where we’re you?

[mvivion]

Today is the 22nd anniversary of the events we refer to as 9/11.

Where were you that day?

MTV

[1934A]

I was in college at Black Hills State, walking to a 6:00am study hall, walking by the t.v. in the lobby when I saw the smoke billowing out of the first tower. Watched it all unfold during my study hall. It all seemed so surreal.

[BC12D-4-85]

Right here doing this. Now this for Anchorage: https://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_3_7326.html

Gary

[supercrow]

I was in my shop gluing covering onto a colt fuselage that I had just converted to tail wheel. I quit for the day. The shock kind of took me back to the day. They sent us home from school, because President Kennedy had been assassinated.

[StalledOut]

It's my birthday, I was home, snoozing when people started calling asking if we were still having a gathering that evening. Bunch of morons really screwed up my birthday since. On the plus side, I see Joe is stopping by Anchorage to wish me a happy birthday this year LOL

I actually met him when he was VP and came up for Ted Stevens service. I was hurt and in a wheel chair and his secret service folks parked across from my house and pushed me across the parking lot into the church.

[wireweinie]

Stranded in Juneau. Only way in and out of that town is to fly or cross into Canada. Both were barred for a couple of days.

Web

[akavidflyer]

Stuck in deadhorse waiting on a flight to Alpine. Turned into a few extra days stay there.

[Mot]

I had just got up and turned on the TV. The news was airing the scene live and didn’t know what the H was happening. My wife was on Cinnamon Butte Lookout on the Umpqua National Forest. They had a fire going with several aircraft in the air.

She called me on her cell phone and asked me what was going on. Her dispatch office had told the air tankers to return to their bases and stay on the ground. The FAA had told them that the helicopters in the air were ordered to hover until they could figure out what to do with them.

[Pete D]

I had just graduated A&P school the week before and had no job that week, transitioning halfway across the state to my first job as an aircraft mechanic.

[jnorris]

I was heading to the airport to give some tailwheel instruction in my Super Cub. Instead of flying we sat around the FBO watching the events unfold on TV.

[dgapilot]

Sitting in my office at 16th and H in Washington DC, a block from the White House!


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[TVATIVAK71]

Sitting at the gate in a MD-80 cockpit at SEATAC.

[Mot]

I just now asked my wife if she remembered what she was doing that day. She refreshed my memory. Later that day they cleared the air tankers from Medford to fly retardant to the fire. A lead plane was cleared from Redmond Oregon to meet the tankers over the fire. I remember the lead plane pilot talking about it later. He was the only plane in the air over Central Oregon. It felt very strange to him.

[stid2677]

I was a First Sergeant in an Air Cav unit at Fort Hood, was home showering after PT. We were recalled and locked down for a few days after, we were task with protection of a nuclear power plant. We prepped our gear for quick deployment, after about a week we stood down. I knew that day the world was going to be different....

[txpacer]

I was on vacation from my short lived airline job that week and was planning on flying Chris' Luscombe from South Carolina to Texas. The weather was a bit of a problem and I didn't get out until the afternoon of the 10th, stopping in Alabama for the night. I've always considered it a point of honor to skip over Alabama on these little trips, but that's not always possible with a 14 gallon tank.

Early morning departure on the 11th, with a fuel stop in Mississippi. The guy at the FBO there said something about an airliner hitting the World Trade Center. My initial thought was that he should turn up his hearing aid if he's going to be listening to AM talk radio that early, but it left me with an uneasy feeling, nonetheless.

I dialed up Memphis Center on the next leg and heard some very strange conversations. On announcing my pattern entry at Arkadelphia, Arkansas, I heard the words that will haunt me to the end of my days - "Welcome to Arkansas, you ain't leaving."

Chris drove up to get me once it became clear nothing would be moving anytime soon. We drove back to get the plane about two weeks later and met at Gainesville, Texas for lunch, her driving and me flying. I picked her up on the highway on the way home, so I thought I'd give her a quick buzz. Later she told me she had just passed a highway patrol that had pulled over an Arab looking man, then there I go blasting over. I have to wonder if he got a vacation in Cuba because of me.

I was furloughed not long after that and rejoined the Air Force. I never did reclaim my bus driver job.

[Richgj3]

I was in the left seat of my Comanche flying my friend from Long Island to Middlebury, VT to pick up his SC that spent the summer up there. Landed at Middlebury and called my wife. She said “a plane just hit the World Trade Center.” I was confused the WX was CAVU. How could that happen?

Went into the FBO in time to see the second one hit. I called FSS on the phone and asked if I could get home. They said they were holding all IFR traffic but nothing about VFR. So we drove to Don’s farm and he was getting the Cub ready while I watched TV. When I saw the plane hit the Pentagon I knew we weren’t going anywhere by air. We took his car and drove to New London CT and got on the Ferry to Orient Point, Long Island which was guarded by folks in uniform with automatic weapons.

At that point there was no way to get off LI except that ferry and the one at Port Jefferson to Bridgeport CT. The line to get on the New London ferry was miles long. About a week later when they opened up GA IFR flying we drove back up there and filed to get the Comanche home. A few weeks later we got the Cub. N8171D currently owned by a member here.

Sometimes I Google my ex airplanes to see where they are. Recently when I did that for N7735P (Comanche) a report about the attack and ATC actions came up. I wondered why until I saw the page in the document that had a screen shot of the Boston radar that morning and my plane was on there.

[Dlthig]

Sitting in the right seat of a C-17 getting ready for instructor school. Went back into Base Ops and watched the second tower fall. I was heading East on Friday. The whole thing was surreal. I pray we never see anything like that again.

[Farmer Hank]

I was in the kitchen preparing breakfast. I called my two kids down to watch it on TV. They didn’t comprehend the gravity of the event, but I did. Can’t forget that day.

[mam90]

In a hotel in Denver on a layover. I think it was 3 days later they let us fly, and we stopped in Nebraska and picked up our passengers who had started driving home to Boston. Shortly after we got home we went to London (Luton) and were held at altitude for an unusually long time. 2 F-15’s made a close up flyby and then we were cleared to descend. Landing in Canada on the way home under the impromptu “gateway” program. Surreal indeed.

[umwminer]

Prob 45 min after leaving our our place ( wife & i ) on the milk river west of malta mt on hwy 2 on our way to ak via the ak hwy , my oldest daughter called my prc25 looking “car phone” and asked if we were watching the news . Told her we were on our way north and she said that a airliner had just flew into a skyscraper in nyc . Stopped at a gas station / bar / casino in chinook mt to watch the tv just in time to see the 2nd jet fly into the other wtc tower . Holy Cow Balls , the 2nd was no accident and i said to myself that we are at war . Got back in the outfit and headed east for home to see what was going on , call active duty family to check in ,
etc , . Sounds cornball but called the usmc recruiter in billings to see if i could get back in and after asking my age thanked me just the same . Waited around home for 2 days , called the border station north of havre mt to see if we could get across into canada and was told we could cross but no guarantee on when we could get back in and decided to hit the road again for ak .
I have worked in the mining industry up in canada for many years . That said , i have also had many very heated political arguments with my canuck brothers and sisters over us policy , etc , and my very proud stance as a us citizen . Actually came to blows more than once . No big deal , thats how it is in mining camps everywhere BUT i actually shed tears while driving thru every small and large alberta town , calgary and edmonton included that were flying huge flags of OUR US colors . Northern BC and Yukon likewise .Canadians on roads and on intersection sidewalks upon seeing our license plates honked their horns and blew us kisses . I was and am still blown away by our northern neighbors show of solidarity . THANK YOU CANADA ! God Bless America .

[Brian M]

I was in college and was awoken by my roommate who said I had to come see something on TV. I repeatedly told him to go away, as it was nearly a daily occurrence that he found some strange show or other asinine thing that he was excited about. But then his voice got deadly serious and I reluctantly got out of bed. Like several others here, I got in front of the TV just in time to see the second aircraft hit the towers.

As a high school teacher, I long asked my students what it was like to experience that day from their perspective. When I started this job, my students were in their pre-teen years in 2001. Then their late single digits. Then toddlers. It was genuinely interesting hearing what that day felt like through the eyes of youth. But now? Now my students were born 5 to 8 years after 9-11. And it's just history. But as I discussed with my students today, for those of them who have parents who have served in the military, in some ways they have been more directly affected by that day than I have.

The second Alaskan soldier to die in Iraq was a man who I previously worked with in a high school youth group. He volunteered to go back for a second tour in Iraq. I still think about him every time I say the Pledge of Allegiance and every 9-11. I don't agree with every choice our leaders made with regards to military action, but I deeply respect and honor those who have given so much over the past 22 years.

[BC12D-4-85]

Pearl Harbor II with all the hows and whys

Gary

[Steve Pierce]

Had gotten home the day before from the Midwest Antique Aircraft Club fly-in at Broadhead, WI the day before. Was working when my Mom called and told me about the first tower. Went in my hangar apartment and saw the second one hit. Could fly for a while I remember. I do remember flying as soon as the airspace was opened up.

[Scott A]

In the Delta Air Lines training center just starting 'recurrent' training on the B-767. It was day one, which was ground school day, then two days in the simulator.

Class just started and this one asshat had his phone on and kept getting phone calls - we all thought what a dick when he finally interrupted class, apologized and explained what his wife was telling him. We stopped class and saw the second tower. Class of FA's across the hall. About 26 of us in class. The flight attendants called it a day - after much deliberation we pressed on with class but with everyone checking the news. 90% of us in this class were not based in ATL so would much rather get credit and be done with recurrent than have to come back - and we couldn't go home anyway with the nation wide grounding.

It was a different simulator session the next day, pretty subdued. We had to of course check all the usually boxes but couldn't help but speculate what went on in the cockpits and what we would or could do. Limited flights started up the day we finished so we made it back to our domiciles. Many of us went on to become FFDO's (Federal Flight Deck Officers - the armed pilot program). I can fess up that I was carrying now since I'm retired, it was supposed to be a secret as to who was or wasn't carrying.

Anyway 9-11 is one of those things most remember what they were doing - same for 1-28-86 when the Challenger shuttle exploded (Taking wing covers off at Merrill field in Anchorage getting ready for super early flight, I was a fairly new flight instructor).

Sadly many in the industry still put $ over your safety - mind boggling that new airliners come into service with the same shitty cockpit set up - the need to open the cockpit door to use the lav.

[gbflyer]

Looks like one of y’all was getting escorted out of the Presidential TFR. Not in 2001 though.

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anch...A48ggOYFrZ5ofk


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[hotrod180]

..... She said “a plane just hit the World Trade Center.” I was confused the WX was CAVU. How could that happen?.....

I had the TV news on, getting ready to go to work,
and that was my first thought also- that it was an accident.
I was flabbergasted when the second plane hit.

[MoJo]

Left NY the night before, and I was waking up in CA to lots of messages from friends and family wondering if I was safe.

3 days later, I flew to bfi and then to iad. Took off out of bfi and I was cleared direct to iad (DC). Heard one or two company flights on the radio, one or two fedex and up. Otherwise it was pretty quiet all the way across the country.

Next day iad - Bermuda. Flying near iad, saw lots of military fighters in the air. Atc informed Dragnet of our squawk code. My former Air Force copilot informed me that Dragnet was an awacs.

Next day Bermuda - Lax (with a comical customs stop somewhere in Kansas.) Hit the East coast and again cleared direct destination.

On 9/11, the day we forfeited and the terrorist won by causing us to give up our liberties.

I have a friend that has a ticket stub from the World Trade Center lookout from the day before. He was taxiing out at ewr when the second plane hit. After a long walk, he got a car and drove home to Wyoming. Another friend, charter pilot, had to put down in a small town in Nebraska. No rental cars, so his passenger bought a car and drove home to NY. He and his copilot became the local celebrities.

i wish I could have been as lucky in the lottery for as many times as I won the random cavity search before boarding. My hero was the SW pilot, after being searched at the gate, he went down to his cockpit, grabbed the crash axe (plane can’t fly without it,) took it back to his random searchers, and asked what he should do with it?

ramble over.

[buckchop]

Enjoyin time with my new son, he was one week on that day.

[Hgr3029e]

I was at work at the GE Ontario, CA engine overhaul facility. This became the beginning of the end of that facility, with big layoffs including those of us in management, I spent the next year moving millions of dollars of parts overseas.

My husband was airborne flying to work from CCB to HHR. Approach asked him if he wanted to return to CCB and he didn't understand and they didn't elaborate
He continued and was then told he was grounded when he landed at HHR. On the 14th he was able to return the CCB but not start his daily commute again until the 17th.

[charlesf]

I was over the South China sea at 35,000. We were supposed to check in with company every hour, but no radio contact. ATC was quiet.3 hours of radio silence. Getting close to Singapore, we were cleared to land about 150 miles out. Unusual. Cleared for a straight in, also unusual. At the gate, several machine-gun toting guards met us, and the passengers. And the press was right behind the guards with their “poor”questions! That was the first we heard about. At the next ground school, when the instructor emphasized communication, I asked why we were out of contact for 4 hours. No answer! It never happened as far as the company was concerned. Nobody wanted to talk about it. We were on the ground for 3 days, at a nice hotel in Singapore. We did ok!

[Kid Durango]

Took my then 3 month old daughter for her first flight. Wife and I had gotten up early to go look for elk. Had no communication until we landed (after the airspace had closed). We got caught up shortly after landing.

[RaisedByWolves]

I was in 7th grade history class, I think. I remembered the teacher turned the tv on and we all watched. Parents got me out of school early, shortly after.


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[OldCuby]

Alice and I vacationing on Prince Edward Island and just by chance watched all on a TV in a Radio Shack store. Drove our rental car to Halifax and saw all the overseas airliners stacked up at the airport. Got our flight back home days later which flew by NYC and all passengers got a look at the then still plume of smoke from the Towers. Never forget!

[RVBottomly]

I was in my basement office on Vashon Island early expecting to write some motions. Yahoo news told of the first airplane crash. The second one caused me to go up and tell my bride what was going on. It was awful. I ended up going to my job in Seattle but the boss said we weren't going to get anything done.

[md11freighter]

Called in sick for a YVR-OAK turn trip. Those trips were brutal in an F27.

[aflyer]

I was flying my 185 from Pagosa Springs to Jeffco airport in Denver to take the dog to the dog sitter, in prep for going to the Reno Air Races. I was flying along through the passes in the mountains listening to LeAnn Rimes. When I called Jeffco 15 out they said "we order you to land!" I said that is what I had in mind, what's up? "Cleared to land 29". I thought that was funny, usually too busy for that. As I progressed I realized there was no other radio traffic. After landing the line boy filled me in, and I went to the pilot lounge and watched the next couple of hours on TV.
It became obvious I wasn't flying anywhere a couple of hours later when a v-tail landed with an F-16 on his tail. He got a low pass with AB as he was rolling out. I rented a car and the dog and I drove back home. The Reno Air Races were cancelled. I went back a few days later and brought the airplane home.

[180+cubs]

Cabin creek, idaho

[moneyburner]

I was working in the power plant at PACZ Cape Romanzof USAF Long Range Radar Station rebuilding generators. I was supposed to be there for another six weeks, but they came and got me with a C-12 about four days later for a higher priority job at JBER; The normal crew on that contract was missing a few people who were stuck out of state and couldn’t get back.

[Bobo]

I was a Naval Aviator in Sicily on a 6 month deployment with VP-5 Mad Foxes flying the P-3C Orion. I was the squadron Maintenance Officer and one of my officers came into my office and told me an airplane just crashed into one of the World Trade Center buildings. As we were searching the web for what happened, the second plane hit. We both knew at that point we were at war, we just didn’t know with who yet. We immediately recalled all aircraft on mission and personnel to the hangar. All 405 squadron personnel were assembled later in the hangar and we were told what we could expect to be doing in the near future. One of many frustrations that day was not being able to get an open phone line to talk with my wife in the USA.

[Cubus Maximus]

My brother and I were fishing for a book cover. We listened to the radio in the truck and other people around were discussing in low voices. Very weird vibe in every way. During the grounding, went out to the airport and taxiied the Cub around the ramp with the tail in the air. (Bobo, I knew the Tomcat guys first in, the fight at Tora Bora was epic. Even dropping leaflets was interesting, they stuffed them under the air brake. Another friend was on the ground, convinced the same Turkey drivers ruined his white Hi-Lux diesel after the talibs stole it.)