I was flying home from a fishing trip in Alaska. We had an early morning departure from Anchorage to Seattle. We were on the runway in line for take-off from Seattle when the Captain came on the p.a. and informed us that there had been some sort of multi-flight hijacking event and that all air traffic was to be grounded indefinitely.
It was surreal to deplane and see thousands of people in the terminals milling about in a daze of confusion and concern trying to figure out what was going on. They were piling up the luggage in the concourses with cardboard signs on them designating the flight numbers. I remember most folks being extremely cooperative and calm for the most part. It wasn't mass hysteria as you would think... My sister, who was a corporate pilot for a small charter jet company, had the wits about her to get on the phone immediately with her company to try and get some inside info. They didn't know much more than we did so we immediately got in line to rent a vehicle and find a hotel in Seattle.
When we were watching the tv's in the airport, I will never forget that sickening feeling watching the planes hit those towers for the first time.... My brother-in-law was a police officer and with me being a firefighter, were both called back to duty as soon as we could get home. Once we came to find out that all commercial flights were going to be suspended indefinitely, we decided to start driving home from Seattle to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. We made it back in just under 60 hours stopping only to eat and use the bathrooms. In every State we passed through, the reaction from the people was was much of the same... Folks were still in shock, and all that people talked about were the attacks. But, I distinctly remember never having encountered more accommodating, helpful folks along the way. Everyone seemed to bond over our country's shared tragedy. Honestly, that's the last time I remember this country coming together and standing united as one people.
Eerily, we came to find out that several of the terrorists including Mohamed Atta, lived in Coral Springs about 10 minutes up the road from us. Many of them also went to Florida flight schools one being Perry which is an executive airport 5 minutes from my house...
WE WILL NEVER FORGET