September 11 - 20 years on.
I was working for Ansett at the time so the shock of losing my job and career compounded the shock of the attack. Months later when I finally had to hand in my ASIC at the airport I was able to go onto a 737 that was parked at the airbridge and had been "wrapped up" since Ansett had stopped flying. Still on the aircraft was a newspaper from the day after the attack and the picture on the front page was of a man who had jumped from one of the towers. He was still alive as the picture was of him before he hit the ground. My lasting image of that photo was that he had his hands behind his back and he was head first. He was clearly resigned to his fate and was going to take the final step while he was still in control. I think that man sums up why the terrorists haven't won anything. Despite being put in a situation not of his choosing, he was still going to fight back in the only way he could and that was to end his life on his terms and not submissive and frightened by a bunch of cowards. The aim of Bin Laden was to precipitate the collapse of Western economies by bringing down what he thought was the ultimate symbol of capitalism. How wrong and deluded he was.
Thread Starter
I was working for Ansett at the time so the shock of losing my job and career compounded the shock of the attack. Months later when I finally had to hand in my ASIC at the airport I was able to go onto a 737 that was parked at the airbridge and had been "wrapped up" since Ansett had stopped flying. Still on the aircraft was a newspaper from the day after the attack and the picture on the front page was of a man who had jumped from one of the towers. He was still alive as the picture was of him before he hit the ground. My lasting image of that photo was that he had his hands behind his back and he was head first. He was clearly resigned to his fate and was going to take the final step while he was still in control. I think that man sums up why the terrorists haven't won anything. Despite being put in a situation not of his choosing, he was still going to fight back in the only way he could and that was to end his life on his terms and not submissive and frightened by a bunch of cowards. The aim of Bin Laden was to precipitate the collapse of Western economies by bringing down what he thought was the ultimate symbol of capitalism. How wrong and deluded he was.
I was working for Emirates . Operating Heathrow to Dubai and some where over Iran when we became aware of an issue. Company ACARS to stop cockpit access and pilot chatter on 123.45 that numerous more aircraft had possible terrorists on board. Nothing from ATC or formal channels. Years later I was inbound to Istanbul when a terrorist attack was underway and was alerted by cabin crew who had been informed by passengers watching BBC world on inflight entertainment.
