September 11 - 20 years on.
Today, in the US, marks the twentieth anniversary of a horrifying event that changed the world of aviation forever. I am opening this thread to encourage people in this industry to share their memories and impressions of that day, and also to honour the men and women on the hijacked aircraft who lost their lives. Out of respect for those who died, politics, religious/racial stereotyping and, especially, conspiracy theories, are not welcome. Instead, I hope that this thread will be a collection of memories, thoughts and reflections on what, for the aviation industry, was a defining moment. Here’s my memories and thoughts:
I actually went to bed earlier than usual on September 10th (US time) and so I wasn’t aware of the catastrophe unfolding in New York until I woke up the next morning. As was customary then, I turned on the TV morning news show while my wife showered and was stunned beyond belief by what I was witnessing. As the summary continued of what had happened, I relayed the information to my wife - four airliners were hijacked, two were flown into the World Trade Centre, one was flown into the Pentagon, one crashed in a field, people are jumping out of the burning towers, the towers have collapsed. It was almost too much to comprehend, and as I discussed it with my wife, I said, “They must have killed the pilots … there is no way I could fly an aeroplane into a building … even with a gun to my head.”
I knew that my life as a 747 pilot would never be the same again. All those happy conversations with passengers in the flight deck - one of the most enjoyable parts of my professional life - would never happen again. The next time I flew, the bullet-proof, locked doors had already been installed, but they just served to remind me of the awful last moments of those poor pilots who were killed on that terrible day. Vale to the pilots and cabin crew of the hijacked aircraft, and RIP to the souls of all of the innocent victims who died.