9/11 diversions

[Dont call me Shirley]

Wondering if any of you have 9/11 diversion stories to share. Stories of the transatlantic flights going to places like Gander are well known, but some domestic flights would up in unusual places as well. A US BWI-LAX flight landed in Garden City, KS, I think. (I was not flying that day, so I don't a tale to relate.)

 

[smfav8r]

Wondering if any of you have 9/11 diversion stories to share. Stories of the transatlantic flights going to places like Gander are well known, but some domestic flights would up in unusual places as well. A US BWI-LAX flight landed in Garden City, KS, I think. (I was not flying that day, so I don't a tale to relate.)

I was in MCI with a couple U crews. Sat out by the pool day in and day out waiting to fly one of the several aircraft home.

The amusing part of the story is, every morning, AMR, CAL, AWA, and DAL crews would get up, put their uniforms on and go out to the airport because scheduling told them too. Only to be turned away by the police....duh

Morning after morning, we would eat our breakfast and watch the parade of crews wonder out to the van.

One of the AWA pilots asked me, "how come we didn't need to go out to the airport?" I said that our scheduling department knew better. The airport is closed, the airspace is closed, no-one is in the sky, the question is, why are you going out to the airport?

 

[hp_fa]

My personal story isn't very compelling. I was on the way to PHX to check in for a JFK nonstop as the first plane hit and I heard it on the radio. As I was checking in for the flight the second plane hit the second tower and we all knew we weren't going anywhere. The lineholders were soon released, but I was held at the airport with other reserves because there were rumors of government charters, none of which materialized on AWA from PHX. Six hours later I was released. I eventually was called in to work the first PHX-LAS flight, which was on a 757. Everyone was antsy and that entire flight, which was full, was as as quiet as a church.

Two years later I was on a long BOS layover. I asked the captain about where some decent food was and he listed off a huge list. I asked him how he knew that many and said he was on a layover in BOS on 9/11. He told me a story of how many times ops contacted him to say they were going to have him fly out that day, or the next, only to have him tell ops no one was going anywhere because the entire BOS airport was a crime scene and no one was getting in or out.

The scenario played out for days. By day three he was so frustrated by ops that he had the BOS station manager call ops and tell them the same thing, that the entire BOS airport was a crime scene and there was no way anyone was going anywhere. Ops simply had no real clue. If i recall correctly, it was the sixth day before he finally flew his A-320 back to PHX.

 

[res4us]

I worked RES at that time. I think everyone on the business end was being incredibily optimistic.

We would change reservations for flights the next day. We were told that we would try to get flights off. The next day came and we would be rebooking those people we just rebooked for the next day. This went on so long I got to know some of them well. This is no small thing because the calls would come in randomly. It just tell you how many times these people had to call back.

I can understand the pilot's frustration. Didn't anyone in planning and ops watch the news?

 

[N903AW]

After the devastating news, I went to the AFA office (I was on the AFA safety committee during that time) and was the first one there. I opened the office and within 45 minutes we had a full command center in operation.

Our members, myself included, went to a downtown Phoenix hotel that morning to provide assistance and support to the United Airlines crewmembers who were stranded there or had diverted to Phoenix that morning. We provided them food, beverages, a secluded conference room to have meetings and updates, a hotel suite for them to gather and most important, emotional support. It was a somber time for all of us.

The days following were a blur and an emotional roller-coaster for everyone. When we resumed flying, I volunteered and worked one of the first PHX-JFK turns. Being back at work was almost surreal and very different. My parents had reservations about my flying to New York City, but I told them that the only way I was going to fight the fear that many of us felt at that time was to fly to the place where my fears originated.

A memory that will always be with me as our departed JFK just before dusk on the 16th of September was seeing the smoke still rising from lower Manhattan. A flood of emotions washed over me and it took everything I had to keep it inside. Looking back, however, I don't think a single passenger on that flight would have minded if I displayed my sadness as we departed New York. It was a stark reality for all of us.

 

[CaptBud330]

I had just landed in London on Flt 94 from CLT and asleep in the Gatwick Hilton. The F/O woke me and I turned on SKY News only to see the second plane hit the South Tower. We sat in London for 6 days waiting to go home. Sobering. Let's never forget!

 

[Freighterguynow]

I was in MCI with a couple U crews. Sat out by the pool day in and day out waiting to fly one of the several aircraft home.

I was there at the pool with you. Enroute PHL - DEN when they shut down the airspace and diverted us into MCI. Had a near miss with a FedEx 727 at the marker due to an overloaded controller. This was the closest I've come to being killed in 25 years of flying.

The thing I'll never forget is just how fantastically beautiful that day was. Clear skies over most of the US and calm winds at FL350. I've never seen anything like it anywhere in the world before or since.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

Had a near miss with a FedEx 727 at the marker due to an overloaded controller. This was the closest I've come to being killed in 25 years of flying.

Yikes! how close was it? Good thing the weather was good.

 

[Furloughedagain]

Some days you never forget. I remember that day as if it were yesterday.

The cockpit door clicked shut. I took another sip of my coffee before setting it down.

"Turn Two" the captain called and I complied, turning the start selector of engine number two. The familiar vibration and soft whirring reverberated through the airplane from 70 feet behind my seat.

We were in Allentown, Pennsylvania and the Captain and I were frustrated with -- of all things -- security. We had just "beeped" when we went through security and were forced to suffer the indignity of being "scanned" in front of our customers. When I climbed into the cockpit I noticed ground-support workers, many in civilian clothes, walking across the ramp -- they had never gone through security. "Look at that!", I quipped, "Those guys have been in the country for about 2 weeks and they dont have to go through security -- we FLY the planes and we get molested!"

But the time for anger and frustration had passed. We started the left engine as the tug pushed us away from the terminal building. The 120,000 pound Boeing slowly lumbered across the apron and towards the runway. The ACARS flashed "W/B" and I ran my finger across the touchscreen, transcribing the weight and balance data from the ACARS to the FMS. I programmed weights and speeds until the familiar "Preflight Complete" message was displayed.

It was my leg and the captain relinquished the controls of the 737 to this "newhire. For me after two and a half years in the right seat of Douglas and Boeing jetliners, I still loved the feeling of pushing the throttles forward. I'd "stand them up" and wait...the engines slowly spooling up from somewhere behind me. I pushed them up to within 10% of the calculated takeoff thrust and clicked the TOGA buttons, the Boeing autothrottles precisely setting the power for me.

"80 Knots....V1....Rotate...Positive Rate...Gear Up." The airplane roared skyward just as the rising sun flashed across the eastern horizon. "1000 feet", called the Captain, "N1, Bug-me-up, flaps 1" I replied. I hand-flew to 10,000 feet and then selected the autopilot. Now coupled to both Lateral and Vertical Nav the airplane settled in to its preprogrammed course towards North Carolina.

Out of ten-thousand feet we grumbled a time or two about security again, but soon settled into our own thoughts. For me, I stared out the window. I had 3 weeks remaining before I was to be married. There was still quite a bit to be done when I came home from this trip. The sky was so smooth... not a cloud to be seen anywhere.

An hour later we descended towards Charlotte with no idea that our nation was under attack. We were vectored towards runway 36-Right and, as I often did, I disconnected the autopilot, flightdirector, and autothrottles below 10,000 feet. The captain chuckled and mumbled something about how I'd be happier in a twin-Cessna.

We saw the airport from 50 miles northeast on the arrival. We were vectored over Lake Norman, and then directly over Charlotte and past the airport on a right downwind. The Captain had pulled his seat up and was peering over me towards the airport below. "What the hell?" he muttered...directing my attention to the airport over my right shoulder.

"They're all going back to the gate...", I commented. We turned base, and then final. Sure enough the airplanes on the ground were turning around. Runway 5/23 was nearly filled with parked airplanes. The frequency filled with chatter, dozens of airplanes asking what was going on.

"We're out of business", the Captain whispered, his voice cracking. "This is exactly what happened at Braniff". The captain, obviously, recalling a memory from his own troubled past, had determined that our airline was being shut down -- we still had no idea.

The main gear brushed the ground and, holding the nose from the pavement, I pulled the thrust-reverse levers to the first detent, the cascade-type reversers sliding backwards. I did not pull them any further, not interested in applying reverse thrust. We would not exit the runway until after we had passed the intersection of 5/23 on the north side of the field. I held the nose off and allowed the autobrakes to apply their soft pressure. I tapped them off with my feet and we taxied clear of the runway.

The ramp control frequency was nightmarish. Dozens of airplanes returning to the gates, demanding information. "Silvertop Boeing just off 36R -- proceed to the gate, deplane your passengers and flight attendants, then call me to push back, we're going to put you on 5/23"

I never had the opportunity to respond. The captain was already on his cellphone, calling his wife. He clicked off his phone and looked at me -- "There has been a terrorist attack in New York", he told me "an airliner just hit the World-Trade Center".

"An Airliner??? I gasped. We were marshaled into the gate and the jetway quickly attached. The captain got on the PA, with a final announcement for our customers who would now, for at least a week, be stuck in Charlotte with us.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Look at your watch. Today we are witnessing history in the making. The United States has been attacked by terrorists. The government has, for the first time in history, elected to shut-down all of the airspace over our country. Hopefully there will be more information when you get into the terminal. God bless us all."

The flight attendants - supposedly trained to be calm during emergencies - were in tears, desperate for information. Already it became difficult for our cell-phones to connect. Cellular traffic was high. I managed to get a call to my fiance's voicemail... to my brother, and to my parents. My father was safely in London my mother informed me. The whole family was accounted for.

We taxied the airplane to runway 5 and were marshaled to a stop, parked close to the string of airplanes that lined the runway. As the engines shut down airstairs pulled to the airplane a van awaited the captain and I. We boarded the van with other flight crews and it quickly drove to the crew-room where a supervisor was handing out hotel information.

"Remove your stripes, jackets, hats and ID."

5 days later the phone finally rang in my hotel room...scheduling asking us to ferry an airplane to Buffalo. The sky was silent that night...very few airplanes in the air. Neither the captain, nor I, said anything -- save our checklists.

He was the first to break the silence. "The world has changed," he sighed. "You know, there are going to be furloughs", he said matter-of-factly.

 

[PITbull]

I flew that morning at around 8:00 am, 757, flight from PIT to DCA. I was attending a system board grievance with the company. When I arrived with my team at the DCA airport, around 9 a.m., the cab driver said that the Twin Towers were hit by airplanes that flew into them. He couldn't give any details, or what airliner; only that it was two huge airplanes and they think its terrorism.

I arrived in CCY and we were asked to go to the 8th floor. Mr. Gangwal (then CEO) and members of senior management told us what was going on in details as they knew it, and that all airplanes in the country have been ordered to land. Mr. Gangwal said he didn't know if it was a USAirways plane yet, but from the accounts of what he's been told thus far, there was an airplane outside of Pittsburgh that he wasn't sure if it was ours.

Next thing I can remember is someone calling out and saying the Pentagon was hit.

I could see it smoking from afar from a huge window in Gangwal's office.

We were told there would be no meeting, and to rent a car and try to get home to Pittsburgh. We did.

I remember not being able to use my cell phone for hours. No service.
It took us approx 4 hours just to get out of D.C. There was a film of smoke in the air, and we were wall to wall traffic. No one could move to get out of Washington.

My children were in school and for hours were upset that I didn't answer my cell phone. They knew I was flying to DCA in the morning on a U plane and for a couple of hours when there was still many planes in the air, and speculation was high, they didn't know where I was.

I arrived home at around 2:00 a.m. the next day. And I was with the MEC President and grievant. We were listening to the news on the radio all the way home.

Emotions high, confusion, fear, and tears all the way home to Pittsburgh.

I saw the TV broadcast when I finally arrived home in the wee hours of Sept. 12, on CNN, for the first time.

 

[smfav8r]

I was there at the pool with you. Enroute PHL - DEN when they shut down the airspace and diverted us into MCI. Had a near miss with a FedEx 727 at the marker due to an overloaded controller. This was the closest I've come to being killed in 25 years of flying.

The thing I'll never forget is just how fantastically beautiful that day was. Clear skies over most of the US and calm winds at FL350. I've never seen anything like it anywhere in the world before or since.

I remember all of us sitting out there by the pool, calm and clear as can be....sometime late in the afternoon, we saw something in the sky above us...it was Air Force One. Flying back to Washington after being up all day to keep the President safe...still gives me chills to think about it.

I remember watching the UPS ramp from the pool, hoping to see some movement, an indication we could get home.

Flying back to PHL on Friday was very strange...coming in on the BUNTS arrival a 1630....hardly any chatter on the radio.....it was a clear afternoon, we hit BUNTS and PHL final asked us if we had the airport in sight, replied with a simple "yep"....cleared for the visual 9R, maintain best forward speed to the marker, contact the tower, so long.

I called scheduling on the ground in PHL, they gave me positive space for my commute home and said spend some time with your family, call us in a couple of days.

Typical USAir employees, from the beginning of the day through the end of the week, we did what we could, with what we had, and made the best of it.

I don't really remember any names from that week, but I do think about it often. Couldn't have had a better group of individuals to go through that time with.

 

[Fly4Free]

Back then, I was working at Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis. At 7:50am, I received a phone call that there had been a plane that hit the world trade center. I was slightly confused, thought "Oh, it must have been an accident.." the thought of a terrorist attack never entering my mind until the second plane hit.

I should have gone home that day. I instead stayed in the conference room and watched the news. Strangely, we had an emergency preparedness meeting that day. (Those of you not familiar with the area, A-B HQ is located next to the US Defense Mapping Agency.) So, of course anything military could be a target, right.

Well, I left my regular time (5:00pm) and there were cars lining the streets/gas stations for gas. I could barely navigate to get home. I would never do that again. I am not sure why people turned into animals in St. Louis that day, but we had animals charging $8/gallon for gas and insane stuff like that.

Also, my dad's building in Hartford CT was evacuated too.


I know this isn't an airline-related post, but it's where I was on September 11.

 

[robbedagain]

we began pushing the F-100 for its 9a departure to PIT and the capt came on and told u to stop the push back and tow it back to gate.
He said that the FAA had shut down the entire airspace and we were in shock.

 

[sentrido]

I was in the US hanger at PHL getting 330 MTC training. We were on break when we heard a plane had hit one of the towers. We went into the inspectors office just in time to see the second plane hit on their little 19inch tv. My life has changed so much sinse that moment. Every week I now fly on the same planes I used to fix. In a lot of ways my life is much better now. I wear business causual insead of my uniform. I have more money. I don't work weekends, odd shifts, in the weather, and whatever other inconveniences came with my job at the airline. I have to say though, I miss it more than anything. I never imagines anything that could happen to take me so far away from where I was back then. I guess life chooses your path as much as you do.

If you can't be grateful for what you have, be grateful for what you escape

 

[LGA777]

I am not a crew member but I think this account will be interesting to some. I was scheduled to work at 1300 that day in the LGA Ramp Tower. I was awakended about 0900 by my roomates making a lot of noise in the living room. Curious but half asleep I stumbled into the living room, and looked at the TV just in time to see the second 767 impact the WTC. I was in total disbelief and new instantly life would never be the same. At the time I lived right next to LGA and could see the smoke out our apartments windows. I spoke to a co-worker about 30 mins later in the Tower and she reported all US planes where accounted for. After a depressing day glued to the TV with an occasional run outside to watch Fighters passing overhead I needed a break. I drove about 3 miles to a parking garage I knew had a good skyline view. Lower Manhattan was still covered in smoke and the forever changed skyline was painfull to view. Later that night back home the smell of death arrived in our neighborhood and it lasted for days. I will never ever forget that stench. On Sept 12th I was asked if I would man the phones in the Tower since I lived so close. Those of you who have been in the US LGA Terminal will appreciate this. I arrived at a lower level entrance near baggage claim. A law enforement officer greeted me at the door and he verified my name on the very short list of people allowed in the building. I then went upstairs, walked thru a 100 pct empty terminal, I did not see ONE other person until I arrived at the Tower, where I relieved a coworker. An amazingly erie feeling being in this HUGE, EMPTY Terminal, with only 1 guarded entrance in and out. I had an uneventful but uneasy afternoon, about 1800 a US Marshals MD87 landed on 22, the only aircraft movement I witnessed. About 1930 a NYPD Helicopter was not sqwaking on the correct special emergency frequency and Fighters where scrambled to intercept it. I watched and listened on the scanner in disbelief. It was resolved after a few mins but I think this chopper came pretty close to getting shot down. This is about all I recall. I look forward to reading more accounts from the road.

Regards

LGA777