T1B

Papa Willie wrote:The area that I covered (lower 2/3 of GA & some of N. Florida)

Left Seater wrote:Second worst day of my life. I was flying for my own company on that day and taking a group from Dallas to SoCal for a meeting and then return. We left Dallas shortly after 7:00 am Central time. Initial routing was north towards Lewisville and then a turn to the west. After reaching our cruising altitude of 40,000 plus, our lead attendant came up and told us that the passengers were all discussing an accident in NYC, in which a plane hit the WTC. We discussed how that could have happened even if the weather was horrible in NYC, which of course it wasn't. Just a few minutes later the lead let us know that another plane had hit the WTC. At this point we knew it wasn't an accident.

We, all planes in the air, were told to land at the closest suitable field even if it was behind us. This was repeated a few times and that raised a few questions. What was the definition of suitable? Clearly suitable meant having a runway that was able to handle type and weight, but did it mean a terminal, jetways, etc for the commercial types? Did it mean the Air Force base we just passed ten minutes ago. I immediately made the decision that we weren't going back to Dallas as that was going to be a mess with the morning bank in full swing at DFW, and they didn't need anyone else in that mix. We tried for a few minutes for further instructions while continuing to head west. Finally after what seemed like an hour, but was more likely a 7-9 minutes we were told commercial flights would be given priority to land at commercial fields. So we just held our course and looked for spots out in front of us.

The airports in our area were all in NM. ABQ was our first choice as it was a large city, both of us up front had been there before, and nice facilities for our passengers. Of course at the time we thought we would be on our way later that morning once they figured everything out. We requested and were granted a turn to the Southwest to head to ABQ. A few minutes later we were told to head to something closer since ABQ might be busy with launching the Airforce reserves from Kirtland which shares the same facility.

We crossed Taos NM off of our list as it had less than 5500 ft in length and was over 7000 ft in altitude. Angel Fire was slightly closer and 1000 feet higher in elevation but an additional 2800 feet in length and 25 feet in width and we were pretty heavy due to the fact we were tankering fuel, but that is a tricky approach to an uncontrolled field. So that was out. (Tankering, flying with enough fuel for the entire trip so as to avoid purchasing fuel at a higher price in CA. There is a tradeoff in that you are heavier so you burn more fuel early, but it can often still be a savings.)

So on to Santa Fe with its 8000 foot runway at 4000 feet in elevation and controllers. We landed and were directed to park on an out of the way spot which we didn't understand why at first, but became clear when United, Southwest and America West were all right behind us. We spent 4 hours on the plane before we learned we weren't going anywhere for the rest of the day. The next day our passengers headed back to Dallas via car and we settled in with the other flight crews and watched the world change before our eyes.

We spent 2 weeks in Santa Fe and I made two life long friends. One of those things where you go thru something with people and you almost instantly feel like you have known them for such a long time. Our story is similar to those around North America. One of the best is from Gander in Canada. 38 planes in all landed in Gander on 9/11 and 32 of them were wide bodies. A total of 6,600 people were thrust upon this small community who took them in and cared for them like they were family. Here is a photo of the airport in mid afternoon on 9/11.



Notice the planes parked on the far end of the runway also.

Here is the story of their reunion yesterday.

http://www.canada.com/news/9-11-anniversary/index.html

Carr Guy wrote: This day really hits close to home for me because my ex co-workers father-in-law passed away on 9-11.

trev wrote:By evening we were watching the sad events in tears and sorrow for what had happened.

Seething Wagon wrote:13 years later, that glass parking lot idea is seeming like a missed opportunity with a good excuse.

Carr Guy wrote:He died of a heart attack shoveling snow.

Goober McTuber wrote:

Carr Guy wrote:He died of a heart attack shoveling snow.

Shoveling snow? In early September?

War Wagon wrote:We've remembered this day in history every year for the last 13, which is only right...

13 years later, that glass parking lot idea is seeming like a missed opportunity with a good excuse.

mvscal wrote:

Goober McTuber wrote:

Carr Guy wrote:He died of a heart attack shoveling snow.

Shoveling snow? In early September?

They got 20 inches or something in Wyoming last week.