An aviation magazine called Aviation International News (Melissa works for them) has published on their blog readers' memories of 9/11. These are basically stories from corporate pilots who were somewhere in the airspace system that day and how they heard the news, reacted to it, got grounded, tried to get home, etc. They are fascinating stories. You can read them at http://www.ainonline.com/.
In the cab coming home from stitch removal (all was well) today, the driver and I started talking about 9/11 and he told me his day back then. I was thinking that despite my ambivalence about the 9/11 machinery of made-for-tv movies etc., one thing I never tire of is hearing people's invidual stories.
Back to the corporate pilots. To me the most compelling was from someone who worked at a helicopter charter company. I was reminded that there was a time that morning where we all thought that people above the fire could be rescued by helicopter from the roof. Here's part of his story. For those non-aviation people, an S-76 is a fancy executive style helicopter.
He writes in part:
Shortly thereafter the passengers arrived for their Boston flight. Our aircraft departed Wall Street heading for Boston, not realizing the magnitude of the disaster that was still unfolding. We at AAG were now glued to the TV and saw our S-76 pass by the Twin Towers on its way to Boston.
Soon the second tower was hit, and we knew we were watching a disaster unfold. I then received a call from the New York/New Jersey Port Authority asking if we could send any helicopters to the city to assist with an evacuation from the World Trade Center. I told them I could provide four S-76s immediately and was then informed to stand by for further instructions as to when and where to report. We stripped out four VIP S-76s to be able to accommodate as many people as possible.
We never received the second call to launch our four aircraft. They were not needed; the attack on the World Trade Center was too devastating and no helicopter evacuation services were required.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I'm so glad you told me about this... I didn't even know aboutbthese stories on the web :)... Been to damn busy to read them! I did think it was a good thing to review how operations in corporate aviation were affected on 9/11 and what changes are still evident 10 years later. And we didn't have to use it as a sales pitch to try to sell ads :).
It's funny you didn't know. Since I read them, I must have told/emailed a dozen people to go read them. I've been an AIN cheerleader this week. As someone replied to my email suggesting he go read them -- it's one aspect of 9/11 that really hasn't been explored.
Post a Comment