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September 11, 2001
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 the view from 33,000 feet
Posted by: Steven Hobbs from Orlando FL
Thursday May 16, 2002 @ 08:46 PDT

my 9/11/2001 story

ok so i sit here almost 5 months from the tragedy of 9/11/01. i still cannot forget the images of that day and tears are still present in my eyes anytime i think about things. below is my story. i am writing it out more as a form of closure for me and hopefully you will find some comfort in the fact that no matter what happens in our lives, a faith must remain that, no matter what happens in our lives, life must go on.
the month of september 01 was supposed to be a busy month for me. my schedule that month had me in tampa fl on sunday and monday nights, returning to orlando on tuesday afternoons. it was a great schedule. i was going to be flying with 2 other flight attendants i really enjoyed flying with and had a great time working with. i had just moved to orlando from baltimore at the end of july and did not really have many friends yet and it was a great comfort to work with people i could have fun with. on top of my normal schedule i had also picked up some extra trip to work, because there is no way i can sit at home for 4 days straight sometimes and do nothing. i had been doing that for a long time. picking up extra trips from other fa’s as a way to supplement my schedule and make some extra money. i usually did this twice a month, most of the time at least a week apart so i did not get burned out.
i was working a 3-day trip the week before 9/11. i was in ft lauderdale 9/7 and islip ny 9/8. it was a pm trip, which meant i was working at night. i had already worked my 3-day tampa/tampa trip 3 days before and was working 6 days straight that week. on friday night 9/8 leaving islip we had a mechanical delay and was 3 hours late leaving and ended up in new orleans that night too late to catch our flight home to orlando. so we ended up spending the night in new orleans and flying home the next day. at that point i had worked 7 days straight, which by government regulations is illegal. getting home on saturday morning, scheduling told me that i would not have to work that sunday, but would instead fly up to nashville on monday 9/10 to pick up my trip.
i spent that weekend doing laundry and doing my normal running around. at that point i was dating someone in orlando and we went out on that sunday to the club and out to dinner. it was really cool; i had felt like i had connected with this guy and he seemed to feel the same way. i was actually excited because me made plans to have dinner that upcoming wednesday night. i went home that sunday night and packed my bag for what i thought would be an easy 2 day hop down to tampa and back to orlando on tuesday. knowing that i did not pack my usual assortment of things.
i got up on monday morning and deadheaded up to nashville. i was at the airport for over 3 hours waiting to catch up with my crew. i remember sitting down and reading the newspaper. the headlines were still talking about gary condit. pretty much a quiet day for news. my plane showed up and after the typical exchange of hello’s we went out our flight.
the next morning 9/11/01 in tampa we arrived at the airport at about 7am and was excited to see that our flight was not going to be full going to manchester so it would be a nice, quiet flight. i myself got only more excited to find out that we were going to be flying in one of our new planes. a/c 408 was only 3 days old and was decked out in the new colors of southwest. as the passengers boarded i went about my normal duties of making sure the aft galley was stocked and prepared for pushback. we had a total of about 73 passengers onboard and the majority of them sat upfront, leaving the back 5 rows empty. which on most days is a very good thing because it allows the flight attendant to use the seats to eat, read or do whatever.
the flight went about as they usually do. it was one of those fall days where the sky was as clear as you can see. we had a beautiful view as we flew up the east coast. i was sure to point out some sights as we flew north. we flew directly over the top of norfolk va and looked down at the naval base and all the ships parked there. it was about 845 am when i went up to the cockpit to see captain dave and first officer fred. we had flown with them the day before and they had invited us to hang out in the cockpit if we had time. i had asked about our flight plan to see if we would be flying over nyc like we had done the week before, because some passengers had asked about it. the captain said he would call back and tell me when we got close. that we were running early and would be in manchester at 10am.
i went back to the aft galley and started reading my harry potter book. it was about 20 minutes or so later that tina came back and said that the captain wanted to see all 3 of us in the cockpit. i went to the cockpit along with tina and shawn. captain dave told us there had been an airplane crash in nyc and that we were going to be diverted around it and might not be early into manchester. we were told not to say anything to the passengers about it. at that point we were just coming over the top of philadelphia and up ahead you could see smoke in the nyc area.
tina and i stayed in the cockpit and shawn went back to check on the passengers. from the cockpit you pretty much get a 180-degree view of the area ahead of you. looking out the left side you could see the world trade center smoking. all of us were commenting about what might have happened, there was confusing report coming over air traffic control radio about what was going on. some were speculating that it was a regional jet out of laguardia. in no way did we even contemplate that it was a 767 from boston. the idea of planes being deliberately flown into the side of the building was not even thought of at that point.
we were about 20 miles west of nyc, just over newark when the unspeakable happened. first officer fred had broken out his binoculars and was looking at the wtc. i myself had looked through them and was just in shock at what i saw. i could see the flames and damage done to the side of the wtc and just thinking about all the people inside. fred had the binoculars when the 2nd plane hit the south tower. he only caught a slight image of the plane as it plunged into the side of the building. i myself just saw the explosion. at that point, i just stood there in amazement trying to figure out what i just saw. atc radioed and advised all pilots to secure their cockpits and captain dave asked us to step out so he could bolt the cockpit door. he said that he really did not know what was going on and atc was not giving any information. they were just being told to take a direct path to manchester. dave then asked if i would go to the back and call someone to see if i could find out what happened.
i went to the back of the plane, in the last row of seats and used my credit card to call my roommate at home. todd answered and asked where i was. when i told him, he said not to let anyone in the cockpit. he then told me what was going on. saying that 2 767’s had been hijacked and flown into the wtc and that people were jumping out of the windows. there were also news reports that other airplanes were hijacked and the faa was putting a ground hold on all a/c nationwide. i sat there in the seat and just started crying. todd then told me that a 3rd plane had just crashed into the pentagon and that it was believed to be a southwest flight out of baltimore. that was when it really hit home. i told todd to call my parents and tell them that i was ok and i would call them when i got home that night.
at this point some of the passengers had been talking among themselves about what they saw outside the window. some had stopped me and asked me about and i stated that we were still finding out information. i called captain dave and told him what i found out from todd. i also asked if he thought i should let them know. he said it would probably be a good idea to go ahead and announce what had happened. we had been given a direct descent into manchester. i have always been known as more of a pa hog on the airplane, but this one announcement i did not want to make.
standing up in front of the passengers and telling them what had happened was one of the hardest things i have ever had to do. fighting back my own tears telling what happened, some of the passengers started crying themselves. i have never been much of a religious person, but i asked everyone to take a moment of silence in memory of the victims.
after that it seemed forever till we landed. i was fighting back tears thinking that some of my coworkers had been killed and it just has easily been me on those planes. when we landed in manchester i was amazed to see all the planes on the ground. looking out the windows i saw wide body planes from united and american on the ground. manchester nh is not a small airport, but it also was not designed to handle large airplanes. when we taxied in i counted at least 9 planes on the ground just sitting on the taxiway and planes were still landing. when we parked at the gate, the ops agent told us to get our stuff and get off the airplane. they needed the gate for the planes that were landing. we did so and went downstairs to the operations break room. down there were 4 other crews all standing around the television. it was here that i watched the towers collapse. not a single person made a noise. we all just stood there in shock. some were trying to use their cell phones, but like most that day all we got were busy signals.
in the months since the tragedy i have been asked “a few” times about how i can continue to fly. well, the best answer i can give is that no matter what you can do to control what happens in your life, there are forces at work we will never understand that control our destiny. when it is my time to go, i will go. not a whole lot i can do about it. i can protect myself and that is about it. i just know now that we should cherish each day in our lives.
 


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