Posted on 06/05/2006 8:27:12 AM PDT by genefromjersey
This e-mail is riveting as it relates the perspectives of a seasoned, commercial pilot. / jpm
Susie and I just got back from seeing "UAL Flight 93", it was absolutely gripping, and as a former airline pilot who was flying a trip that morning on a Boeing 767 from Cincinnati to Orlando it was almost too horrific to watch...it was very disturbing!
For you pilot types, the attention to detail, the cockpit, the preflight, the crew, pilots and flight attendants boarding the aircraft and making small talk was OH, so real and routine...just another day in the office! Likewise the views from central flow control, NY and Boston ARTCC and the NORAD command center were very realistic.
Should anyone have any doubts about our response, or lack of that morning you need to view this movie. Watching all the various controllers and their supervisors trying to get their arms around the problem and to come to grips and connect the dots is so very real. The movie appears to almost happen in real time and you can really sense the problem that the commanders had in thinking outside the box and realizing that we were really at war.
Fighters are scrambled, late, and in the wrong direction, as threats are suppose to come from over the water to the east not from over land to the west; the planes are not armed, can they ram, and who has the authority to give that command...the command is given but not relayed to the pilots. ; The lack of communications, or rather the disbelief and lack of coordination is stunning but easy to understand. Even the pilots of UAL Flt 93 are given a data link message that the Towers have been hit and to beware of cockpit intruders...they brush it off in disbelief...as I'm sure any pilot would have prior to that date.
The time line given at the end of the movie and the confusion over what planes were involved, and which flights were being hijacked is very revealing...we just couldn't get it together quickly enough.
As pilots and crew members we had never been trained to deal with suicidal hijackers who were prepared to die, it was simply inconceivable at the time. A key point, though not belabored, was when the supervisor of the FAA Central Flow Control ordered that all aircraft in US airspace land immediately, (there were over 4200 in the air), that no planes from overseas would be allowed into the country and would be turned back, and that there were to be no over flights...he realized that we were at war but didn't know with whom...it was a very bold and brave move and he was thinking way outside the box...I believe that it was also his first day on the job as the boss!
All Americans should see this movie as it may help them get a grip on the terrorist threat that we are up against vs. the radical Muslim world. I don't know if we belong in Iraq or how we should deal with Iran or North Korea or the Sudan, but I know that there is a real threat to our way of life from the radical Islamic fundamentalists.
I continually hear that this is not a true reflection of the Koran or true Islamic beliefs. Well that may be true, and it might not be, but there would appear to be plenty of Muslims in the world that have an entirely different and radical interpretation of the Koran which we cannot ignore.
What was probably as disturbing as watching an airline crew, that could have been me or any of my friends, seeing their world and their life taken away, was the hijackers preparing to die, washing themselves and praying to their god as if they were doing his will. They looked like ordinary young men, and to think that they could sit next to all these people on that plane that they were going to kill, who had nothing against them or done nothing to them, was beyond words.
I guess if nothing else it gives you insight into the minds of suicide bombers, which to our Western way of thought is beyond comprehension.
This movie will make you angry, very angry.
My experience on 9/11. We were just ready to close the door for our Delta767 flight from CVG to MCO when the gate agent came on board and asked if we had heard anything about a small plane hitting the World Trade Center, we had not, so she said goodbye and closed the door. Shortly thereafter we were airborne climbing out on a beautifully clear crisp fall morning heading to Florida with not a cloud in the sky or a care in the world. I heard a bizjet ask for a reroute since he could not get to New York and I thought that was strange. Then another bizjet said "well I guess we won't be going there either" and asked for a clearance to an alternate. At that point I asked center what was going on. There was a pause and then the controller came back in a very excited voice and said "they have hit both of the Trade Center Towers, they have hit the Pentagon, they have hit the Capitol and the White House"...well you can imagine it got really lively on the frequency.
I turned to my Co-Pilot and said "I don't know what has happened, but I do know that things will never be the same", and I think I got that right! Within seconds the controller had composed himself and said all flights on this frequency standby, and it was dead quiet. He then said all flights are to land immediately and went down the list of the planes under his control..."American 235 turn right heading 230 you're landing at Pittsburgh, Continental 456 turn left heading 180 for Cincinnati, Delta 235 (that's me) turn right to 250 and descend to 8000, you're landing at Knoxville, airport your 2 o'clock 40 miles....etc" It was the best, fastest and most efficient handling I have ever had from ATC...they had everyone on the ground all over the country in minimum time.
After all the initial confusion, their professionalism, and that of all the flight crews was exemplary! We spent two days in Knoxville and then ferried an empty 757 back to Atlanta and I believe were one of the first flights to land back at our main hub.
Our arrival at ATL was one of the most moving experiences of my flying career. The airspace was totally empty, there was no talk on the radio, and we were the only plane in the sky over ATL, the busiest airport in the U.S., but we did have, unknown to us until informed by the controller, an F-16 right on our tail, but we never saw him.
When we taxied in the normally frantic ramp area was dead quiet, all the ground equipment, tugs, baggage carts, tugs, fuelers etc. were lined up in military precision and the ground crews were standing at attention and saluted....wow, I'll never forget that. They needed a sign that things were getting back to normal...that we were moving and flying again.
Reflections. As you may know I was on a United Flight several weeks ago from Chicago to Sacramento that had a passenger who tried to open the front cabin door, allegedly claimed to have a bomb, and took a swing at the flight attendant. We'll yours truly was sound asleep in the last row of coach and missed all the action, but suffice it to say that before he got very far he was rapidly subdued by the first class section and we diverted to Denver.
Unlike Flight 93 he couldn't have gotten into the cockpit as the cockpit door is now armored and no passenger is going to sit still and let anyone interfere with the flight. I always felt that with the improved cockpit door that I would be totally safe, and that all my passengers in the cabin would act as Sky Marshals...It was and they did...they remembered 9/11, lets hope that we never forget!
I would also like to mention that all the crew members on my United flight as well as all the ground rescue folks in Denver and the United station personnel did an absolutely marvelous job in handling this incident. It made me proud to have once been a part of this profession.
I took my 21 year old, college student, daughter to it. She hardly knew any thing about this flight, just the ones that crashed into the towers. It was so good for her to see it, to give her a better perspective on our war.
So sad, we both cried.
ping
The amazing thing was that in the midst of the confusion and chaos, many people in authority made decisions that may have made a real difference that day. The confusion and chaos turned into action and determination very soon considering the shock that everyone felt.
I was amazed at how rapidly things were brought under control, and would probably be more impressed if I knew more about what happened behind the scenes. Instead of widespread panic it seemed most reacted with a strong will to do something to help or restore order.
I have friends in LE that were off duty and just went to work as soon as they heard, not knowing what else might happen or what they might be needed for. Many in the medical community did the same.
I saw the best of America that day and in the days after, it seemed we were all going to pull together to fight for our country and our way of life. I know many have let us down since then with words and deeds- but I am still impressed with the initial reaction of many Americans.
I took my 13 yeard old daughter last week also.
We both left speechless.
She (and I) now have a better understanding of why we are at war and what happened that day.
I thought it sad that there were only 6 people viewing it including us, even at matineee.
Other foolish movies had plenty of viewers.
Thank you for another perspective.
ping
This email had been around for a few weeks now. However, it would be interesting to hear the comments of any Freeper commercial pilots about their experiences on that horrible day.
"I turned to my Co-Pilot and said "I don't know what has happened, but I do know that things will never be the same","
I might just be too jaded for my own good, but I cannot imagine a pilot, in all that confusion and unknown saying that at that moment. It sounds like a line from a movie.
Sorry.
Bump
Thanks for the link. It was sad going back and re-reading that thread.
God bless Barbara Olson. Great Freeper and great gal! Sweet, smart, wonderful woman!
Nothing to be sorry about, I had the same reaction when I read that email.
Thank you for posting your comments. As a pilot, it had to be a surreal experience for all of you. To get a message that has never, ever been sent to land ALL aircraft over the US must have required some suspension of disbelief. I hope and pray that message is never issued again. What got me for the days aircraft were grounded was how utterly quiet it was and how clear of contrails the skies were. My wife and I was going to our car and the parking lot afforded us a grand panorama of the sky. It was very beautiful, except no contrails. I told my wife, as well as myself, to let this soak in. This was a singularly unique time. And that was an understatement. My only regret was not having gone over to Memphis International Airport. It would have been interesting to see how many different tail logos were there that's normally not there.
I haven't seen United 93 yet I hate to say. I need to go see it. It will be in the dvd collection. The passengers on that flight were the first victors in the GWoT. They are true heroes along with all those on the other three flights and the people that worked on The Pile that was once the World Trade Center Towers 1 & 2.
Frank Culbertson, who was the ONLY American off the planet during that time wrote a very moving e-mail from the International Space Station. He knew one of the pilots killed on 9-11. He was one of his fellow graduates. The ISS was coming over Canada at the time and was coming up on New York very soon. They got some good video of it from orbit.
I'd heard about the first plane hitting the WTC from a coworker, and we tried to figure out what happened. (It was a clear day with no precip in the NYC area so WTF?, etc.)
I was standing with a few of my coworkers watching the WTC converage in our Director's office, when we saw the second plane hit. We turned to each other in shock, each one recognizing simultaneously what was going on. We were under attack.
Me, being me, made a joke under the stress: "This ain't no boating accident" (referencing Jaws). With a few nervous laughs, we all moved out to secure the building, cancel meetings, and tracking down our folks on TDY. A few minutes later, my mom called me in a panic, wondering if I was at work or in DC. That's when I learned about the attack on the Pentagon.
I watched the collapse of both Towers on television. I managed to grab a few minutes to call my wife and alert her. (She seldom watches the tube during the day.) I remember I was both shocked and pissed. Shock, because I'd seldom dreamed I'd witness anything like that outside of a Soviet attack on CONUS. Anger, because some bastards (we didn't know who yet, although I had a good idea of "the usual suspects") dared attack my country, my people, my home. I just kept muttering "sonuvbitches must pay" to myself.
That night, I sat down with my 8-year old kids and tried to explain what happened. They were frightened, because they could see the fright in their teachers and other adults. Their teachers couldn't tell them a lot about what happened or what was going to happen. I did the best I could to explain what happened and the meaning. Trying to explain war, terrorism, and the murder of innocent civilians to children raised in innocence...
I remember the quiet of the next couple of days. The lack of aircraft noise and the subdued murmuring of my coworkers. I remember seeing the oval contrails of fighter patrols to the east, the only evidence of anything flying.
I remember the shock of discovering the names of two of my friends on the rolls of the Pentagon dead.
I remember the fear in my children's eyes when I told them goodbye when I left for extended TDY to DC.
I remember... and I will never forget.
Sonuvabitches must pay...
Sorry, I've needed to get that off my chest for some time. Hang tight, all... and never forget.
bump
Yea, I remember the same. I wanted to go see this last weekend but the movie was already out of ALL the local theaters.
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