What information did you get during the flight? Did the flight crew make up some story to pacify the passengers? Or were they unaware of what was happening?
And how - and where - did you find out what actually happened?
Fairly sure I have written my memories on here before. One person I heard about on one of the many TV documentaries about the disaster and have since always remembered on the 11th is Rick Rescorla. What an incredible man.
11 September is my birthday. Even so, I was at work, I remember the news of what was happening going round the office. This was before we had access to the internet in the office so didn’t see coverage til I got in from work. Truly shocking events, felt like a paradigm shift.
I was at home that day, having a couple of weeks off before starting a new job. I watched it all unfold on TV, right from the start of the coverage. I'm ashamed to admit I found it a bit exciting at first, and completely fascinating. I remember looking up into the sky watching the planes over London before they were all grounded.
A few weeks later I heard that an old mate from primary school had been working there and had died. Suddenly it became real and not a distant catastrophe.
I went to visit the memorial last year to pay my respects. I found my mate's name and it was very, very moving. Like others have said, there were plenty of morons there taking grinning selfies in front of the site where so many people died. I found that disgusting tbh.
Come From Away opens in the West End this winter after a successful couple of years on Broadway. It tells the true story of travellers on this fateful day that found themselves grounded for several days in Newfoundland. The show sounds similar to my own experience on that day as we too were forced to land in Newfoundland though they were at Gander, we were at a smaller airfield in Stephenville near Cornerbrook. The pilot told us that the USA had closed it's airspace but didnt give the reason, the plane had phones so small fortune later I managed to speak to my wife who was up the wall worrying. We got looked after really well
What information did you get during the flight? Did the flight crew make up some story to pacify the passengers? Or were they unaware of what was happening?
And how - and where - did you find out what actually happened?
I remember the crew coming out and telling us there had been an incident but not sure what and we were told to divert to Canada or fly home. The Americans on board were very worried, obviously. I remember a phone being used by one of them. I only knew what happened when we got home and see it on tv. Ironically we were meant to fly the day before but moved it to the 11th so potentially would have been in NY on the day.
As I’ve said before I worked for a company that lost around 300 staff or so. I knew a handful.
Went to the memorial 2 years ago and my wife and I walked straight up to the name of the guy we both knew. Out of 3000 names his was the first. Proper weird.
Probably mentioned it before......I had to see a client at The Institue of Psychiatry in Denmark Hill & remember listening to it all unfold on the radio as I drove ovet there from Dartford. Whilst waiting in reception some woman ran out in a panic saying that everyone can all go home early because of the "terror threat". I know I shouldn't laugh but it did make me wonder why she thought they would want to target a building full of doctors & professors.
As an aside.......Golfie Jnr was born 2 years later to the day. When they have a 20 year rememberance service he will be out getting drunk celebrating his 18th. That date is forever etched in my mind.
Our daughter was working in Manhattan at the time, living on 2nd Ave, corner of 13th St. We got a call in NZ from my sister in Southampton at 4.30am our time to tell us that the US was under attack and New York in flames. We immediately put a call through to daughter Brooke and miraculously got through to talk to her. We tried again many times but the lines were down of course.
Brooke's partner at the time, a devout zen Buddhist was at his dojo when the first plane hit. He phoned Brooke suggesting she might like to take a photo which she did, in time to photo the second plane hit - she running one way, everyone else running in the opposite direction. Robs dojo looked immediately across to the Twin Towers. He went back to his meditation and when he resurfaced the other Tower had gone. As a matter of (little) interest his dojo also overlooked the apartment of David Bowie and he could be seen watching telly etc.
We visited NY in subsequent years, the first time when all the flags and pictures of missing people were pinned up seeking news of loved ones. Very poignant was a clothing shop nearby which survived the horror but had retained a space in the shop behind glass showing shop items covered in inches of soot and dust.
It's been very interesting reading others' recollections.
The Looming Tower is a very good (and probably very accurate) mini series about the rivalry between CIA and FBI considering information sharing leading up to 9/11. CIA and some of the senior officials at the White House including Rice were definitely responsible for this tragedy which could've been prevented.
I would not say they were responsible for the tragedy, that would be the guys who flew the planes. Rice etc. may be guilty of lack of competence but that is not the same thing. It's like the people who had access to the information coming from the Americans' cracking of the Japanese code (Purple, if I remember correctly) before Pearl Harbor. That they didn't act properly on the information they had does not make them responsible for the attack, that can be laid squarely at the feet of Tojo and his warmongers.
If you're interested, please watch the series, or read the book it was based on as stonemuse suggested it is equally excellent. I'm sure you'll change your views. It was not only the CIA's lack of competence but also and more importantly their deliberate effort to block information sharing with the FBI that partly led to this tragedy. They could have stopped it from happening. They put their own interests above the country's. I think the families of the victims must have been furious when they learned all the details/what went on within the CIA and how those people treated vital information. I couldn't believe some of what the CIA people said and did because it was so outrageous. I later found out it was true...
Had moved from NY to Chicago the year before, will never forget the utter devastation, panic and sheer sadness that engulfed the US. Always listen to the names being read out by the families on the BBC.
The Looming Tower is a very good (and probably very accurate) mini series about the rivalry between CIA and FBI considering information sharing leading up to 9/11. CIA and some of the senior officials at the White House including Rice were definitely responsible for this tragedy which could've been prevented.
I would not say they were responsible for the tragedy, that would be the guys who flew the planes. Rice etc. may be guilty of lack of competence but that is not the same thing. It's like the people who had access to the information coming from the Americans' cracking of the Japanese code (Purple, if I remember correctly) before Pearl Harbor. That they didn't act properly on the information they had does not make them responsible for the attack, that can be laid squarely at the feet of Tojo and his warmongers.
If you're interested, please watch the series, or read the book it was based on as stonemuse suggested it is equally excellent. I'm sure you'll change your views. It was not only the CIA's lack of competence but also and more importantly their deliberate effort to block information sharing with the FBI that partly led to this tragedy. They could have stopped it from happening. They put their own interests above the country's. I think the families of the victims must have been furious when they learned all the details/what went on within the CIA and how those people treated vital information. I couldn't believe some of what the CIA people said and did because it was so outrageous. I later found out it was true...
I started responding to your comments on the series with this, so it's fitting it came back around to the book: I watched about about half of it and really enjoyed it, then stopped to listen to the audiobook, which I'm like 1/3 of the way through (and I remember a lot of the stories from the inquiries after). It's really interesting, very dry at times (the book), but you really have to brace yourself because it's so just frustrating and awful. And obviously you feel that way given how it ends, but it's also just infuriating that it was just cascading failures all the way down for US intelligence.
On the one hand, you have literally decades of American foreign policy spread across both parties and lots of Congresses coming home to roost. The plot itself is sort of a perfect storm of circumstances where everything goes right. On the other, as you point out Jessie, you can intelligence agents who played "this is my territory" who at SO many turns could have prevented this. And we were getting intel from foreign countries as well. And it culminated in the "Bin Laden determined to strike in the US" PDB. And nothing was done. And arguably most infuriatingly, nobody lost their jobs (except for Bill Maher).
Tim Weiner's "Legacy of Ashes," a book about the history of the CIA, does a really good job with this, and so many things as well. And it follows that thread through to the Iraq War and all the intelligence failures there. It's right up there in terms of books about US history that I recommend because so many things done by the CIA continue to influence the word today.
I was working in Silvertown then, and about 2pm we were watching some protesters making their way up the flyover back to Canning Town, they had tried to get to the arms fair ar Excel and got turned back. I suppose it was about ten past when someone came in and said that a plane had hit the twin towers. The general reaction was “How the hell could you fly into that??!!” Not for a microsecond did anyone think it had been done on purpose. This of course changed rapidly when news of the second plane came through.
We didn’t have the web at the time but had the radio on as it unfolded. At one point it was thought that 30 or so planes were unaccounted for which thankfully proved to be untrue. At the time it felt like you were living in a Tom Clancey novel, unfortunately it was for real.
The Looming Tower is a very good (and probably very accurate) mini series about the rivalry between CIA and FBI considering information sharing leading up to 9/11. CIA and some of the senior officials at the White House including Rice were definitely responsible for this tragedy which could've been prevented.
I would not say they were responsible for the tragedy, that would be the guys who flew the planes. Rice etc. may be guilty of lack of competence but that is not the same thing. It's like the people who had access to the information coming from the Americans' cracking of the Japanese code (Purple, if I remember correctly) before Pearl Harbor. That they didn't act properly on the information they had does not make them responsible for the attack, that can be laid squarely at the feet of Tojo and his warmongers.
If you're interested, please watch the series, or read the book it was based on as stonemuse suggested it is equally excellent. I'm sure you'll change your views. It was not only the CIA's lack of competence but also and more importantly their deliberate effort to block information sharing with the FBI that partly led to this tragedy. They could have stopped it from happening. They put their own interests above the country's. I think the families of the victims must have been furious when they learned all the details/what went on within the CIA and how those people treated vital information. I couldn't believe some of what the CIA people said and did because it was so outrageous. I later found out it was true...
I started responding to your comments on the series with this, so it's fitting it came back around to the book: I watched about about half of it and really enjoyed it, then stopped to listen to the audiobook, which I'm like 1/3 of the way through (and I remember a lot of the stories from the inquiries after). It's really interesting, very dry at times (the book), but you really have to brace yourself because it's so just frustrating and awful. And obviously you feel that way given how it ends, but it's also just infuriating that it was just cascading failures all the way down for US intelligence.
On the one hand, you have literally decades of American foreign policy spread across both parties and lots of Congresses coming home to roost. The plot itself is sort of a perfect storm of circumstances where everything goes right. On the other, as you point out Jessie, you can intelligence agents who played "this is my territory" who at SO many turns could have prevented this. And we were getting intel from foreign countries as well. And it culminated in the "Bin Laden determined to strike in the US" PDB. And nothing was done. And arguably most infuriatingly, nobody lost their jobs (except for Bill Maher).
Tim Weiner's "Legacy of Ashes," a book about the history of the CIA, does a really good job with this, and so many things as well. And it follows that thread through to the Iraq War and all the intelligence failures there. It's right up there in terms of books about US history that I recommend because so many things done by the CIA continue to influence the word today.
Thanks. I'll have a look at both books.
I shared an introduction page to this series on a social media site today and the most unbelievable comment I got was from a colleague of mine. He said 9/11 was a conspiracy done by the US government itself, meaning the US government planned all this. I didn't even want to reply anything to that ridiculous comment.
Strangely another colleague of mine posted something like 'what a great and smart man Trump is' blah blah blah on his own timeline today. (nothing to do with 9/11 of course)
For the first time I realised some of my colleagues think they know best yet they actually know nothing, especially when it comes to other contries' politics.
Having a 1-1 with my then boss over the phone. He said turn on the TV in the office, you won't believe what's happening. As others have said, still makes my spine tingle and my thoughts are with those affected today.
Was across in New Jersey by strange coincidence was working for a British Co called Amec we were building a bridge across a Marina.We could not halt work until after we completed a major concrete pour could only watch in horror as it all unfolded before us.By mid afternoon there was a huge Brown Cloud that had come across from what was The Towers.
We left Orlando on the Saturday afternoon (8/9). A few hours into the flight as we few over NY the pilot dipped the wings to the left and announced to the words of the effect - you can see the beautiful sunset with the statue of liberty and Twin Towers to your left. I looked over and took in a great view. How this beautiful scene change in 3 days. I think it eerie and ironic the captain did this.
176 of my colleagues died that day 17 years ago. A fair few I knew, but amazingly I knew more that actually got out. Sadly one of those not so lucky was a bright young lady that my office here in Bermuda had sent to New York on a 6 month secondment. She started on September 1st and never returned home.
i was working for ExxonMobil in London and when the "crash phone" went i had to set up the crisis responce room----wall to wall TVs all tunes to differant channels etc . Contact all business leaders in building-----as i was doing it i saw the building collapse ! when the people started to arrive (in mins) i had to tell em what i thought had happened and they started contacting very very VIP people to find out what the feck was going on. We herd at the time there was a plane heading towards Canary Warf and the building would be a target as it was an American oil company---we went into lock down and moved everyone to sheltered areas(for 2 hours !). Had to contact the american school in Surrey and arrange for the kids to be moved out (only the companies) Then arrange for a phase evacuation of the building---over 60% of the workers being yanks. Next few days was total melt down
I imagine every silly internet joker suddenly became a valid threat. Can't begin to imagine the insanity that occurred worldwide..
I was working in a house in Gipsy Hill. We heard on the radio that a plane had hit. Then, when the second plane hit we knew the first had not been just a freak accident. We started to watch the news on the TV.
Very close to the house was a pub which I had not really taken much notice of but on this day I realised that it was called 'The Two Towers'. I occasionally drive past the pub and always get a shiver.
got home after school with me mate Mark. turned the TV on and that's when we saw what was happening. have to say we at first didn't take it as seriously as we should of done. making out that we were there sitting having a cuppa across the road from the towers in a cafe and seeing it all unfold in front of us. wasn't until the people throwing themselves from the building that reality really hit. I then went out to the other room where my mum was just getting off the phone to her sister. her sister had already said to her "isn't it just horrible what's happening" my mum thought she was talking about something else and said "yeah, I guess. it's not that bad though" I told her to watch the TV. she sat down staring at the TV in shock, she then said "I must of sounded like a right heartless bitch" I told her my first initial reactions with Mark and she just shook her head, put her hands over her face and sighed "Christ"
At 1;46pm on that day I was finishing my lunch hour, and finding it hard to believe what I was seeing on the news feed that lunchtime, thoughts and prayers are with the relatives and friends who lost a loved one that day, those brave firefighters and medics and the many thousands still left traumatised by their memories and injuries, absolutely terrible event.
Fairly sure I have written my memories on here before. One person I heard about on one of the many TV documentaries about the disaster and have since always remembered on the 11th is Rick Rescorla. What an incredible man.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Rescorla
Comments
What information did you get during the flight? Did the flight crew make up some story to pacify the passengers? Or were they unaware of what was happening?
And how - and where - did you find out what actually happened?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Rescorla
A few weeks later I heard that an old mate from primary school had been working there and had died. Suddenly it became real and not a distant catastrophe.
I went to visit the memorial last year to pay my respects. I found my mate's name and it was very, very moving. Like others have said, there were plenty of morons there taking grinning selfies in front of the site where so many people died. I found that disgusting tbh.
It tells the true story of travellers on this fateful day that found themselves grounded for several days in Newfoundland.
The show sounds similar to my own experience on that day as we too were forced to land in Newfoundland though they were at Gander, we were at a smaller airfield in Stephenville near Cornerbrook.
The pilot told us that the USA had closed it's airspace but didnt give the reason, the plane had phones so small fortune later I managed to speak to my wife who was up the wall worrying.
We got looked after really well
Went to the memorial 2 years ago and my wife and I walked straight up to the name of the guy we both knew. Out of 3000 names his was the first. Proper weird.
Very very surreal place to visit
As an aside.......Golfie Jnr was born 2 years later to the day. When they have a 20 year rememberance service he will be out getting drunk celebrating his 18th. That date is forever etched in my mind.
Brooke's partner at the time, a devout zen Buddhist was at his dojo when the first plane hit. He phoned Brooke suggesting she might like to take a photo which she did, in time to photo the second plane hit - she running one way, everyone else running in the opposite direction. Robs dojo looked immediately across to the Twin Towers. He went back to his meditation and when he resurfaced the other Tower had gone. As a matter of (little) interest his dojo also overlooked the apartment of David Bowie and he could be seen watching telly etc.
We visited NY in subsequent years, the first time when all the flags and pictures of missing people were pinned up seeking news of loved ones. Very poignant was a clothing shop nearby which survived the horror but had retained a space in the shop behind glass showing shop items covered in inches of soot and dust.
It's been very interesting reading others' recollections.
I watched about about half of it and really enjoyed it, then stopped to listen to the audiobook, which I'm like 1/3 of the way through (and I remember a lot of the stories from the inquiries after). It's really interesting, very dry at times (the book), but you really have to brace yourself because it's so just frustrating and awful. And obviously you feel that way given how it ends, but it's also just infuriating that it was just cascading failures all the way down for US intelligence.
On the one hand, you have literally decades of American foreign policy spread across both parties and lots of Congresses coming home to roost. The plot itself is sort of a perfect storm of circumstances where everything goes right. On the other, as you point out Jessie, you can intelligence agents who played "this is my territory" who at SO many turns could have prevented this. And we were getting intel from foreign countries as well. And it culminated in the "Bin Laden determined to strike in the US" PDB. And nothing was done. And arguably most infuriatingly, nobody lost their jobs (except for Bill Maher).
Tim Weiner's "Legacy of Ashes," a book about the history of the CIA, does a really good job with this, and so many things as well. And it follows that thread through to the Iraq War and all the intelligence failures there. It's right up there in terms of books about US history that I recommend because so many things done by the CIA continue to influence the word today.
We didn’t have the web at the time but had the radio on as it unfolded. At one point it was thought that 30 or so planes were unaccounted for which thankfully proved to be untrue. At the time it felt like you were living in a Tom Clancey novel, unfortunately it was for real.
I shared an introduction page to this series on a social media site today and the most unbelievable comment I got was from a colleague of mine. He said 9/11 was a conspiracy done by the US government itself, meaning the US government planned all this. I didn't even want to reply anything to that ridiculous comment.
Strangely another colleague of mine posted something like 'what a great and smart man Trump is' blah blah blah on his own timeline today. (nothing to do with 9/11 of course)
For the first time I realised some of my colleagues think they know best yet they actually know nothing, especially when it comes to other contries' politics.
#neverforget
Very close to the house was a pub which I had not really taken much notice of but on this day I realised that it was called 'The Two Towers'.
I occasionally drive past the pub and always get a shiver.
I then went out to the other room where my mum was just getting off the phone to her sister. her sister had already said to her "isn't it just horrible what's happening" my mum thought she was talking about something else and said "yeah, I guess. it's not that bad though"
I told her to watch the TV. she sat down staring at the TV in shock, she then said "I must of sounded like a right heartless bitch"
I told her my first initial reactions with Mark and she just shook her head, put her hands over her face and sighed "Christ"
The nutters and conspiracy theorists would be out in droves.