OT- 9-11-01; What were you doing?

2ndovc · Post by **2ndovc** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 4:01 pm

I was on my way to the lumber yard.
I was listening to the Howard Stern show when the report came in that the first plane had hit one of the Twin Towers.
At first they thought it was a small plane that hit it by accident. It wasn't long after that it became all to real that it was
a terrorist attack.

I got to a friend's house just in time to see one of the Towers collapse. The news reports were all over the place. So much wrong information. There's a plane mising here and there. Some were supposedly to be sot down any minute.

All the while I was growing more and more frantic. My first wife was on a plane that left Cleveland that morning for St. Louis. It was one of those business trips that happened two or three times a month and so common that I had no airline or flight information. For her it was just like hopping in the car and heading off to work.

Took me hours to track her down and with great relief found that she was already on the ground and at her destination. They had been in a meeting and had no idea what was happening.

At the time I was building a house on Lake Erie for my Parents. I'll never forget standing on the second floor decking and looking at the sky. I was up ther for a long, long time. In my lifetime I'd never seen an empty sky. I hope I never do again.

jason

wecsoger · Post by **wecsoger** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 4:56 pm

At the time, I worked for an overnight freight company, Airborne Express. I was also in the AF Reserve, one of my additional taskings was the unit's force protection/anti terrorism monitor and working as a sworn part time deputy in the Sheriff's office.

We were rolling out a digital technical manual system, something the mechanics and support people would use in working on the aircraft. By they way, have you ever seen the collected technical manuals covering all the systems for a DC-8 or DC-9? They don't cover a wall, they cover multiple walls. Hence the reason to go digital.

We were going to place a computer system inside the nearest FAA office (they seem to have a keen interest in anything involving flying) and my tasking was a short dog 'n pony show on the PC system, networking it, how to VPN into our network, logging on, printing and all that other eye glazing stuff.

Side note, even though they were in an oversight position, we always got along great with the FAA. This is good in a relationship where they can shut you down with one word. I always thought the more experienced guys and gals got the big operators and they were a lot mellower than some of the other field folks.

We were in the office (big cubicle farm) and one of the programmer folks came by and said there's news about some big plane crash in New York. That was an item of interest but based on what we knew, we figured it was a sight seeing chopper or some 'yahoo with a Cessna' as so many thought.

We covered most of the details on the system and I think it was the same guy came back, said it's the world trade center buildings and another aircraft has hit. Oddly enough, I just immediately knew at the time how they did it (big passenger plane, hijacked) and my first thought was, "they finally figured it out."

Almost a few minutes later *both* of the FAA guy's cell phones rang and they said, 'we don't really known what's going on, but it's a long drive back to the office and we'll finish this up some other time.'

Next few hours, very chaotic. We were pulling info off the internet, someone brought a TV in.

I went home, grabbed my uniform, radio, vest, duty gear, shotgun will all additional ammo, etc. Yeah, contrary to company regulations, fire me. (oh wait, I was already laid off eight years later but that's another story)

When I got to the parking lot, one of our cruisers was already there. I advised him of everything I had in the trunk and he said good, we have no idea what's happening, the Lt sent me out here to patrol the area and keep an eye on things.

It got crazier. Bush shut down the air traffic system. (good call!) If you're in the air, stop doing so. Land immediately at the nearest location that will accommodate you. There was an implied, "or else" in those orders and no one wanted to find out what the, "or else" part was.

We were fortunate as most of our aircraft were night time operations but we still had a small day time sort operation and those flights were in the air.

For those of you not familiar with aviation, as long as the runway is long enough, you can land anything, anywhere. Parking, another *huge* issue. It's like having a garage in your house that will only accommodate midsize Dodge trucks. And you're driving a Ford 350.

So our guys 'n gals landed. Not wanting to find out that, "or else" part. We had planes *everywhere*. Immediately started dispatching mechanics to locations so they would have tow bars, etc. Some airports didn't even have anything other than a parking spot for the airplane so the crew had to use the escape rope to come down out of the side door and they got a stepladder later to get back in.

What was eerie as could be that evening - our location had over a hundred aircraft come in on an operations night. And even during the day we would have test flights, day ops, etc.

That evening? Nothing. Dark. Nada. Zip. Nil.

Mich Hunter · Post by **Mich Hunter** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 5:03 pm

Charles · Post by **Charles** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 5:09 pm

I walked into work and the secretary was listening to the radio about the event. We rounded up a TV set and watched it unfold from there. Very, very bad event.

harry · Post by **harry** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 5:14 pm

I was at work, driving down Piney Ridge (Wyoming range of western Wyoming)
Harry

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 5:24 pm

Sitting in my recliner watching it on tv.

Mac in Mo · Post by **Mac in Mo** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 5:58 pm

BP Elk hunting in Colorado.

Kevin

jeepnik · Post by **jeepnik** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 6:02 pm

As the country song said, "driving down some lonely interstate".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW8puRqE4Sc

FWiedner · Post by **FWiedner** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 6:14 pm

I was at work, just like I am now. I was in the network operations center and we ported a network news feed to the big-screens, and then to all the conference rooms in the building.

Work stopped.

I'll never forget how many of my co-workers just couldn't grasp what they were witnessing, even seeing it on a 10' screen.

pwl44m · Post by **pwl44m** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 6:14 pm

I was on My way to work,stopped at a convenience store to get coffee or something can't remember. The store had a TV that was airing it at the time but only the the first plane had struck. By the time I got to work the second plane had struck. Saddened , Mad, Awestruck, it was definitly a Day of mixed Emotions.

Beaker · Post by **Beaker** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 6:40 pm

Remember the morning very well. I was stopping by the loca Mc D's to get breakfast and I heard on NPR that what they thought was a small general aviation plane had crashed downtown. I was off work that morning because my house was being treated for termites by Orkin the day before (Monday) and I was going to have to stay home another day while Orkin finished up. By the time I got out of the resteraunt they were saying eye witness reports were saying it was a jet that hit. I got home and turned on the tv just prior to the 2nd jet hitting the towers. Between the towers and the termite treatment I will never forget that day.

kimwcook · Post by **kimwcook** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 7:09 pm

I was off that day and happened to be watchng TV. Tuned into the news and sat there in shock not believing what I was seeing and hearing. I felt so helpless. I was thousands of miles away and couldn't do anything. I'm a cop and it's in my nature to run to things that happen like that. I just couldn't believe it was happening. I'll never forget it. I wanted to make big glass parking lots in certain parts of the world.

FWiedner · Post by **FWiedner** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 7:12 pm

kimwcook wrote:... I just couldn't believe it was happening. I'll never forget it. I wanted to make big glass parking lots in certain parts of the world.

Yeah, buddy. That's an understatement.

Post by **Old Savage** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 7:14 pm

On a fishing boat off the coast of Calif. at the Channel Islands.

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 7:29 pm

I was coming out of "The Baltimore Sun" after a sales call and heard the news from my work over my cell phone. I then put on the news as I drove home, giving up the day to work and got home and watched the events on tv.

Streetstar · Post by **Streetstar** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 7:32 pm

Driving south on I-25 out of Denver making my way towards Oklahoma City. I had just rolled out so probably had not made it to COS yet

The whole drive home was a 10 hour moment of clarity. I thought it was a tragic accident at first -- until the second plane hit.

Then i thought our coastlines were being invaded -- and in a way, they were

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 7:58 pm

I was on the phone, on hold over a problem with my cell phone account... instead of Musak, they had the news playing. I stood there at the phone in the shipping/receiving office of one of the Chicago newspapers, waiting to unload my load of newsprint, listening to this report thinking, "... you know, didn't HG Wells get in some kind of trouble for something similar?" I had no idea it was actually NEWS!

The Pakistani (or whatever) finally came back and fixed my problem. I hung up, wandered back to the my truck and tried to get my radio to work so I could figure out what I'd been listening to. A few minutes later one of the forklift operators came up and asked if I knew what was going on. When I said no, he said to come into their lunchroom they had a bigscreen up on the news.

As I entered the 2nd plane just went into the tower.

Oh yea, it was an underground dock. I wanted out of there in the worst way!

Chas. · Post by **Chas.** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 8:11 pm

My Mother died on September 9 of that year - just 2 days before 9/11. To say that my emotional bucket was full and overflowing is an understatement. To keep my sanity, I was driving to the hospice where she died to settle her final bill when I heard about the first plane hitting. I saw the second plane hit after returning home. I was glued to the TV the rest of the day.

samb · Post by **samb** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 8:51 pm

I was at my parents house trying to get over pneumonia, asleep on their couch. Dad said " son yah better get up and see this, a plane just crashed into the WTC". I threw on a robe, grabbed a coffee and asked "how big"? " About the size of a DC-3", he replied. I thought how in the world does a turbo prop crew, lose control of an airplane and do that? I phoned my future wife in Ga., and said "you need to find a TV".

Cofffee in hand Dad and I watched the second one go in. I swore and said THAT'S a 767 or A300-600! I called back to my g/f's office, and said " We are under attack".

Mid afternoon my little sister called saying " they are evacuating all Govt buildings and school's up here, as a hijack Korean Airlines B747 is being escorted by fighter's into Whitehorse, where should I go"? I told her where to try and get to, and then called back,with a better option and she said " Sam I am in a traffic jam on second Ave, there is no way to get out of downtown". The lump in my throat made it impossible to reply at first.

I returned to work as a B757 First Officer the last week of September, my first trip was a deadhead to Honalulu, and fly back to Vancouver. By the first week of November the Airline filed for bankrupcy, and I was unemployed. The next 7 months were pretty bleak. I often wondered while walking down by the creek would I ever get to fly an airliner again.

I'm April 2002 I interviewed, with my current employer and was called in May with an offer to start in June. I was back in the saddle.

Alan Wood · Post by **Alan Wood** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 9:00 pm

I found out when I got to work that Day.

... It was just a few weeks after hearing that I had won the battle with lymphoma. So few that I wondered if I would have died if It had happened sooner.

2X22 · Post by **2X22** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 1:23 am

I was sick as a dog all night before, throwing up and not being able to sleep. My wife woke me up an hour after I finally fell asleep feeling bad about it but knowing it was something I would like to know about.

Man, was I sick..

Booger Bill · Post by **Booger Bill** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 1:39 am

I had recently retired but dad had came down with alzheimers and I went back to wisconsin to help him. We were watching TV together and seen the 2nd plane crash in the twin towers. It`s one of the very few times I talked back to my dad. He was super religious and when people jumped to escape the flames he commented they were going to hell for commiting suicide, I lost it. Had he not had alzheimers I belive he would have reasoned that out better.

Combat Diver · Post by **Combat Diver** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 5:05 am

I was stationed in Germany at the time. On my way back from Landstuhl Army Hospital and getting back to my Kaserne and finding everyone in my S-2 (intel) section glued to CNN. We knew we were going to war. Only been on US soil 3 of the last 10 yrs. Still have two more weeks here in Astan til end of this deployment (retired now and contracting).

CD

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 5:47 am

I was on a job to put in a door and frame. I heard about it on the radio as I got to the job site and kept the radio on while I worked. Cleveland radio host John Lanigan had a friend in New York who was in another office building watching things happen and had him on the phone while on the air so we were lucky to have first hand info as things unfolded. After the job, I headed home with this inescapable feeling that I needed to arm myself more. It was a helpless feeling to want to attack somebody with all my fury but had no idea who yet.

Gobbler

kevin in nh · Post by **kevin in nh** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 6:51 am

There was 4 of us in a 1956 DeHavallind Otter Float plane flying out to a remote Caribou hunting camp when we hit a down draft and it dropped a thousand feet in a blink snapping off the air speed indicator.......we turned around and went back and were stuck in Scheffersville for 4 days away from our families with no way to go anywhere.......

Martini450 · Post by **Martini450** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 7:09 am

I heard about the first plane when I pulled into the parking lot at work; I'd had that truck for six years, and always listened to the news on the way to work, but that morning the radio stopped working. Anyway, a guy I worked with pulled in right next to me and got out in an excited state, saying "what the H--- do you think of that?". After realizing I didn't know what he was talking about, he told me a plane had flown into the World Trade Centre. My first thought was of that B-25 that flew into the Empire State Building sometime back in the '40s by accident, but then the news reported the second plane. After this, I was sitting in my office when the same guy stuck his head in the door and sais "the S.O.B.s have hit the Pentagon!". Took a moment to register, but it suddenly dawned on me that one of my brothers works at the Pentagon. Thank God, he was alright, but the phones were all down here in the D.C. area for hours, so we didn't know anything until about 1:00 that afternoon.

Strange day. I live about ten or twelve miles from Dulles Airport, and can remember how quiet it was; the sound of air traffic was conspicuous in it's absence. Funny, it's one of those sounds you don't notice until it's suddenly gone. And then the silence would occasionly be puncuated by the sound of a pair of fighters overhead. By the afternoon there was very little traffic on the road either, so the silence was eerie. Absolutely gorgeous day, too, which seemed almost surreal.

zack coyote · Post by **zack coyote** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:40 am

I was walking out the door, going to my first cataract surgery when I heard. I told my young wife about remembering the B-25 flying into a New York skyscraper in 1945, (I believe). When the second plane hit, I said get ready for war.

336A · Post by **336A** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:48 am

I was at JRTC in Louisiana conducting a Mission Readiness Exercise in preperation for a upcoming deployment to Kosovo later that year.

Sixgun · Post by **Sixgun** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 10:07 am

I was doing what most responsible, tax paying, social security card carrying Americans should be doing-----I was at work.

The night before I was chatting with Lieutenant Peter Martin of the New York Fire Dept. We had become good friends a year earlier. We met at a Sixgunner Camp Out/Shoot Out---whatever you want to call it and our personalities hit it off instantly. We both had the same views and values--whether it was family, types of guns, religion, politics, work ethic, etc.

We met several times at Pennsylvania gunshows as the New York circuit of gunshows leaves much to be desired. The last show we went to, Pete snagged a nice 1873 Winchester and brought me down a real deal FDNY issued T-shirt to which I cherish to this day and wear it every Sept. 11.

Pete was very proud of his family. He was married to his childhood sweetheart and they had 3 nice looking and intelligent sons. His wife told me later his son's were following in his footsteps.

On September 10, 2001, while talking with Pete on the computer, he was telling me about the food he was making in the fire dept.'s kitchen. He used all kinds of French terms in describing the food and knew how to spell 'em, complete with accent marks!

Later on the day of September 11, I tried in vain to get ahold of him, so I figured that the situation was so chaotic up there that I would give a few days for things to settle down.

His body was found in October along with 3,000 others who had been murdered.

Each Sept. 11th, my blood pressure climbs. Pete loved life and had it by the balls---he loved every minute
while on God's green Earth as I'm sure the other 3,000 people who died did.

Lets never forget and while I may sound against of our U.S.A. Freedom of Religion clause, I never did like those non-American moslems and surely will never trust 'em.----------------Sixgun

Lieutenant Peter Martin on the left and Lynn Halstead on the right . (The Creeker of "Down in the Hollow Bullet Works") I think thats the name of his bullet making company

He's a great guy also

The laminated card Pete's wife sent me. It is on my safe--at eye level, when I am doing the combination. I see him everyday.

The shirt Pete gave me---Gets worn once a year, sometimes twice---on July 4th

RIHMFIRE · Post by **RIHMFIRE** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 10:16 am

I was at work ..like most others...
After the planes hit...I went downstairs to the tv station
to see what the heck was going on.....

turns out 3 of the bastards were in Daytona...
they were supposedly "students" ...total BS...at Embry Riddle U...
and were at a strip club the night before bragging...

horsesoldier03 · Post by **horsesoldier03** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 10:22 am

Conducting a RECON for a Convoy.

Thunder50 · Post by **Thunder50** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 10:48 am

I remember it well. I usually watch news in the morning, but rest of family hates it, so left TV off while getting daughter ready for school. Took her to school and headed into town to pick up some milk. Couldn't stand the quiet in the truck, so turned on the radio in the truck. Seldom do that ,as all I hear are DJ's yapping like a little dog, instead of music. News came on about accident in NYC then the yapping started again so turned it off. Got home and turned on the TV and was in shock. Knew it wasn't an accident and things weren't over. Thought, too much heat, they better evac. the towers as they are going to come down.

Pentagon got hit and first thing I thought of was my cousin in his office there (Air Force). Called Dad a short while later to see if he had heard anything, if Mike was OK. Slipped my mind that he had retired a week earlier!

Felt like others, need to make some glass over in other parts of the world

Still feel that way

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 11:01 am

Sitting at home unpacking household goods since my terminal leave started 05SEP01. I had taken The Boy to school and flipped on the news out of habit as I was unpacking.

Saw the smoke from the first and when I heard a plane had hit I wondered what nimrod lost control of his Cessna. Saw the second one hit and knew it wasn't a nimrod in a Cessna...

Got a call from the orderly room that evening confirming my number was a good contact number. I told them that if they called me back, I was bringing my own toys.

My Mom, wife and Grandmother all said "You're getting out! They can't call you back!" My Dad, Grandfather and I all said "I'm theirs for another 50 days, they darn sure can!"

Ben_Rumson · Post by **Ben_Rumson** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 1:03 pm

After making breakfast for my wife and getting her set up to leave for work... I turned on the TV later than usual that morning... Both towers had been hit by then.. Called wife to the TV to check it out...Watching a minute or two and trying to get our heads around it the first tower went down...We instinctively got hold of each other...We knew we were seeing thousands of people die.. We just kinda hugged each other and bowed our heads... She headed off to work.... I was off work that day....

Bis · Post by **Bis** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 2:24 pm

I was in computer room on the U.S.S. Constellation, about 3 days out from San Diego. They had to re-arm the ship at sea. San Diego harbor was full of security. Navy Seals in inflatables with loaded 50 cal.'s every where.

madman4570 · Post by **madman4570** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 7:00 pm

Was at a Metrology seminar right in NYC on uncertainty compensations dealing with Lasers.
Was unreal, stayed 2 nights in a bus station because my rental was blocked in a huge parking complex and couldn't get out of NYC anyway.
Saw the ordeal first hand!

2ndovc · Post by **2ndovc** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 7:03 pm

Jack,

Thank you so much for sharing that with us.

I remember thinking that so many of us would know some one first hand or a friend of a friend that died needlessly
that day.
There are so many sad yet heroic stories from that day.

As some of the others have mentioned, it was a day of raw emotions.
They re-ran the Stern show on Sirius satellite this morning and I listened to it as i made breakfast.
It was sad but interesting to hear it again.

My thoughts this morning were of anger at those few that would want to end our way of life.
I began this day with the thought that it should be a day of quiet mourning and reflection.
yet arout 9am a neighbor fired up a chanisaw and went at a large downed tree from a recent storm.
At first I was angry that he dared disturb this sacred day though a few minutes later the thought occurred
to me that this was exactly what a hand full of religius fanatics wanted. They wanted to bring to an end our
freedom and our way of life. Not just cutting up a tree but the end of our civilization. They wanted nothing less!

In that their mission failed. Even though economically things aren't the best right now we still live in the
Best Land in the World!!

Thanks for the responses guys.

jason

JReed · Post by **JReed** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 7:28 pm

I was stationed at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms. I was lacing up my boots getting ready to head to work when my mother in-law called and told me to turn on the news. 5 minutes latter the second plane hit. Spent the day trying to watch the news at the same time keeping a bunch of very young Marines calm.

rusty gunns · Post by **rusty gunns** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:09 pm

When the first tower went down, I was home on Long Island. My brother, a member of local 15 operating engineers was operating a huge Cat bucket loader in the Bronx. When he heard something, he called me and asked what the F**k was happening. When I told him, he and another operator gassed the machines up and raced down the FDR Drive.

He told me how odd it was racing down that road along the coast line of Manhattan a huge piece of equipment, not a car in sight. Police blockades opened and they raced down to the towers. When he got there it was Armageddon.. his words, not mine. The second tower was still up, but with all the debris, the firemen couldn't get the equipment they needed close to the sight.

He piled up cars and debris anywhere he could to make a hole. Make way for the fire apparatus. He said that those brave firemen looked like ants. Bucket lines of men passing saws, jaws of life, hoses, axes, heavy equipment and all the equipment they could from over a city block away.

After he opened the road, he was told to go to the firehouse and sign in. He took the machine and went the few blocks. He was at the fire house when the second building went down. That saved his life. All the equipment and half the men he made a hole for were gone as were policemen, EMT's and anyone near by.

He ran that machine out of fuel, then they took him in a police car and roamed the area looking to commandeer any construction equipment they could. For over 48 hours he dug and cleared with what ever machine he could get his hands on. He said that by now the firemen were working feverishly digging with anything they could to get to the screaming and moaning people. Some would work until they collapsed. They were dragged away and another took their place.

My brother is a hard man. A very hard man, and he has participated in some pretty rough and tumble situations.
But on that day, he was different. He called me ten times that day, and I have no idea how many times he tried because the lines were jammed full.

All he kept saying to me was "Oh my God, Paul... Its like Armageddon." I tried to get there but the city was sealed tight. All the way in Suffolk, there was no way. Bridges, tunnels, rail all closed.

Now I have no tails to share but this one, and my efforts to get there were, in hind sight foolish.

But I will always be saddened that I couldn't stand beside him on that day.

To all who were there, there is no measure of a man, or woman to match the bravery and sacrifice, you offered.

Sixgun · Post by **Sixgun** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 9:11 pm

Neat story Rusty Gunns--thanks for sharing.

I truely hope those stinkin' ragheads are rotting in hell----------Sixgun

shooter · Post by **shooter** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 12:16 am

I was just getting out of bed, getting ready for my Tuesday morning class my freshman year of college. About the time I turned on the T.V. I got a phone call from one of my good friends saying that we'd just been bombed. Scared the you know what out of me, and it took a few minutes for me to get my head wrapped around what was really going on. I was still a little scared, but I was more mad than anything.

Old Time Hunter · Post by **Old Time Hunter** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 12:07 pm

I was driving to the Ontario, California airport to fly for my job to hold an engineering symposium at Humbolt State University. Got a call from my boss telling me to nix those plans and wait at the Fontana office for an update. By the time I made it to the office (a little after 7am PST) the second tower collapsed and all flights were cancelled, so I was not going anywhere. Boss called and told me to go to the nearest car dealer, buy a car, and drive it home. We had a meeting at HQ that following Saturday, the owner told us that his conscience would not let him live if something happened to one of us due to us travelling for his company. Gave us the option of moving into a section of our territories and we would be responsible for any geographical area the could be reached by ground transportation with in 8 hours. Or, he would give us a nice severance package. At the time I was responsible for the entire Western US and Canada, including Hawaii and Alaska. My best option was to move to SoCal, made an offer on a home just outside Crestline on Lake Arrowhead in the Big Bear area. My wife and I were supposed to have the closing, my wife decided that she did not want to move so we called and cancelled the closing (put it on hold for a month), California had torrential rain storms over the next couple of weeks, and the house we were buying slid down the side of a mountain. I had to leave the best job I ever had.

olyinaz · Post by **olyinaz** » Tue Sep 13, 2011 2:46 am

I am a United Airlines 767 pilot. I watched live TV with my morning coffee in utter disbelief as suddenly my airplane, MY AIRPLANE, swept into view and plowed into the second tower. My face went white as a sheet. Moments later my work phone started to ring. As tears welled up in my eyes my wife looked at me mouth agape, in utter disbelief and asked, "United?" I nodded my head.

Shortly my grief turned to anger. As United reeled from the loss of two aircraft and dozens of my co-workers over the next week a call went out to a handful of pilots our local Chief Pilot knew had weapons training or skills. Within a month United had purchased enough Tasers to equip every cockpit in our 500+ strong fleet with a Taser for each pilot to arm themselves with whenever they needed to open the cockpit door, and a small cadre of us set to training the rest of the pilots how to use the things. No other airline followed our lead and after much wrangling the Feds pretty much refused to allow us to equip the aircraft with the things and many local communities threw a fit when they discovered that overnighting aircraft would have "weapons" stored in the cockpit as part of the basic equipment package. And don't even think about flying internationally. It was just a darned Taser and we were completely defenseless! But stupid is as stupid does and you know what kind of world we live in so...the project just died.

The next project we worked on, again within weeks of the attack, was the armored cockpit door. Suffice it to say that this project flew through in record time and every airliner in America today now has a bullet proof and ram proof cockpit door. Within months every UAL aircraft had them and we are still the only airline to also install a "secondary barrier" which is a barricade of wire netting that the flight attendants put up across the aisleway when we need to open the solitary confinement chamber (we used to call it a cockpit...and actually had flight attendants who would come and visit...and it was nice) for needed biological breaks.

The last project I'll mention is the Federal Flight Deck Officer program in which airline pilots may attend a Federal Law Enforcement Training Center class at Artesia, NM for one week and after which be badged as Federal U.S. Deputies of the Transportation Security Administration. Their only jurisdiction is the cockpit that they are working in - period - and the training is very specifically tailored to shooting from the cockpit at the door. I was in the second class at Artesia and within months of 9/11 I was flying armed.

And lastly I'll mention airport security. I can't count or recall the exact number of changes to procedure that we all had to adapt to in the months following the attack and the subsequent "shoe bomber" attack, but they seemed to roll out weekly and were often times contradictory and usually entirely lacking in common sense. The harassment continues to this day with full body scanners and all of the money spent STILL does not seem to provide our country with any way to prevent a well coordinated chemical bomb attack on civil air transport. So sleep well - it WILL happen again some day, mark my words.

I'm proud of our efforts to make sure that it never happens again because my airline and my union took the lead and actually DID lead for a change. But let me tell you I'd drop a daisy cutter on the dome of the rock mosque tomorrow if I could and I'd sleep like a baby I'm so torqued over how they've permanently damaged my way of life at work and in America in general.

I hate 9/11. I do not mark its' passage and I would not read this thread on 9/11. What I will do every year from now on is enjoy the cool beverage of my choice on the day that stinking pig ossama got sent to his Maker for judgement, may he rot in Hell.

Sorry, thems my thoughts.

Oly

Sixgun · Post by **Sixgun** » Tue Sep 13, 2011 5:17 pm

Oly,
Thanks brother. Great response.

Nice information and its good to know you boys who are flying us around know what it takes to keep the ragheads in check.

----------------Sixgun

donw · Post by **donw** » Wed Sep 14, 2011 6:01 pm

i was laid up with a broken leg as the result of a motorcycle crash...my then, girlfriend, now my wife, called me and told me "Honey...we're under attack. airplanes have attacked new york city."...we had no TV at the time so i had to get my news from online...

in alignment with what Oly said...I'd notify the whole muslim world that the next time a plane is hijacked, a bomb detonated, an embassy attacked, etc, Mecca, Medina and Tehran would be 5000 degrees F. for the next 10,000 years or we'd nuke 'em, pave it and use them as parking lots for our F-15 and A10's...

Sixgun · Post by **Sixgun** » Wed Sep 14, 2011 7:14 pm

donw wrote:i was laid up with a broken leg as the result of a motorcycle crash...my then, girlfriend, now my wife, called me and told me "Honey...we're under attack. airplanes have attacked new york city."...we had no TV at the time so i had to get my news from online...

in alignment with what Oly said...I'd notify the whole muslim world that the next time a plane is hijacked, a bomb detonated, an embassy attacked, etc, Mecca, Medina and Tehran would be 5000 degrees F. for the next 10,000 years or we'd nuke 'em, pave it and use them as parking lots for our F-15 and A10's...

Nice words--could not have said better myself

-------------Sixgun