Walked on to the floor of the ACI World exhibits hall in Montreal in time to see the second aircraft hit the tower live on the screens overhead which were screening TV coverage. Rooms were set aside for counselling of those airline and airport execs who needed it. Imagine the panic of the large number of US based folk stranded north of a closed border.
With one exception members of the Victorian Trade Mission of which I was part stayed put in Montreal for a week or so and then returned to Australia via LA on the original LAX/SYD booking. Over beers each afternoon of our enforced stay in Montreal we discussed the potential for this to impact on a struggling Ansett in Australia.
My daughter was on an aircraft in Calgary having visited her host family and about to travel to DC to meet up with me. Luckily the aircraft had pushed back but was denied take off and returned to the terminal. She made it back to Australia on the same aircraft out of LA as I.
MJG .