Sept 11th Revisited

[Aviador]

The follwing e-mail was forwarded to me, written by a now also retired pilot friend who like me was airborne at the time. What saved me and permitted continuance of the flight fromBoston to New York was the fact that I had a transplant team on board with a human heart in the cooler and a, I am sure very eager recipient at Columbia Prespitarian Mediacal Center in NYC.

Guys,

>

> 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 or 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 supposed 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 Delta 767 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 crew 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... I 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.

>

> John

Greetings, the ol Captain, happily retired.

[PREM-R]

And the connection with Phuket/Thailand is?

[Wolfie]

And the connection with Phuket/Thailand is?

Cant see one myself, so i guess this gets closed