[OT] where were you 9/11?

[pb3vr6 at yahoo.com (Tonee Northam)]

I was running the Operations department for Atlantic Coast Airlines/ United Express at O'Hare.
   
  I had to work closely with the Fed's and our OCC to divert airbourne aircraft(I diverted 9 myself all to PIA(Peoria) and grounded 22 flights that had either pushed from the gate or were already inline for wheels-up.)
   
  At the time I was one of two GSC's on duty(Ground Security Coordinator), so my OTHER job that morning was to inspect each aircraft for "unknown or suspicious" items, then after 22 planes later and thinking about my 11k insurance policy from the company I had to walk with the "dogs" in each area that we worked(they had to sniff every office, bag, you name it, even our staff.
   
  It was the most silent day I've expierenced at O'Hare, no engine noise, just crickets.
   
  At first we thought it was one of our jets(we flew heavily into BOS, JFK, and LGA).
   
  I remember monitoring my Flight Explorer and watching all the transponder tags disappear one by one until I got a message box from the FAA stating the site had been shut down indefinately.

Spewey <spewey@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
  Thinking about the job I had going to Canada reminded me of 2001 and 
hence what my day was like when the towers fell. I know half of you 
hate me and are afraid to respond despite being grown men but I thought 
this might be interesting since the world changed. Not political, just 
real life story sharing depending on your time zone or location.

I listened to the initial reports as I got ready for work at 8 am. The 
second plane hit just as I and the ex-gf were about to go out the door 
to our jobs so I listened to the radio on my 20 minute commute.

My employer had recently completed a brand new global headquarters and I 
was lucky enough to have a nouveau riche Henry Miller cubicle there 
temporarily. There were multiple conference rooms but the main one in 
our wing (Science & Technology) had room for 60 and all mod cons as far 
as projection TV and buzz-down screen.

We all gathered and watched as the drama collapsed on CNN. The VP was 
there right next to us lowly technicians and nobody said much of 
anything. "It looks like a movie," I blurted with regret (but then I 
regret everything I say.)

Tuesday was my team's weekly 10 am conference call with Switzerland and 
I found my supervisor in a small room blabbing about nothing. I told 
him the latest by drawing crumbling buildings on the whiteboard and he 
shrugged it off, muted the phone, and said he would watch it on tv that 
night. The Swiss were largely unaware of the magnitude of events and at 
the end of their day, just wanting to go home.

Luckily I had planned to take the afternoon off to go sailing with my 
buddies. Work didn't seem doable by lunch and the ones who shrugged it 
off seemed even more surreal than the events themselves. I got back in 
the car and went home. My one friend was ready, he had the day off from 
his fish delivery job so we went to the slacker den of the other and 
found him sitting amongst cheeto bags and beer bottles watching tv.

Got him in the car and headed south an hour to the boat. We declared a 
radio moratorium halfway down and sailed the day away, the only boat on 
the lake, with our US flag flapping in a nice breeze. Checked in at the 
smalltown bar that night and found some very angry locals. Went home 
and crashed. The end.




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