Post 9-11 and Travel Safety
It was Thanksgiving 2003. I was returning home from a week in Helsinki, Finland.
The trip back was slightly eventful, but safe, with a bit of a delay. There was fog in Europe, very low and very thick. It kept me from leaving Helsinki on time on Thursday (Thanksgiving Day to us) and when the plane arrived at Schiphol, we circled Amsterdam for about 1 hour. I originally only had an hour layover which turned out not to be a problem as my plane to the States was circling overhead also. My plane to the U.S. got low on fuel after circling for more than 1.5 hours in the air and it was diverted to London and my planned flight to the U.S. was canceled. I spent the night in a suburb of Amsterdam, waiting to find out if I was going to get a flight out on Friday on one of only two direct flights from Amsterdam to Minneapolis. I did get the morning flight out on Friday.
BUT, before we left the airport, security personnel was all over the airplane looking for a passenger with, of course, a middle eastern name, checking seat assignments of about 1 dozen people. No one was found matching the name and description of this missing passenger. Then, as the doors locked on the plane, one of the flight attendants found a package that belonged (I was sitting next to the kitchen, I heard their conversation) 'TO NO ONE ON THE PLANE', I repeat, 'NO ONE!' I kept waiting for them to get IT, THE PACKAGE, OFF THE PLANE which to my utter amazement DID NOT happen.
On a personal note: I never have dreams that I remember. However, the week before I flew I had the most vivid dream of a Northwest airplane crashing with me on it, a very unusual experience for me. Needless to say, my anxiety was quite high. I can be one of the most trusting people in the world, but my trust level was low at this point. I wondered throughout the flight just when the bomb was going to go off and asI was sitting in the back of the plane, I was even more concerned about my safety. Imagine my imagination!
Suffice it to say, I made it home safely. Soundly is always questionable.
debra:)
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
My September 11, 2001 (adapted from email I sent to friends/colleagues that day):
I was on the 8:10 a.m. plane this Tuesday, Sept 11, 2001 morning. I was on my way to Detroit, headed to Charleston, SC when the pilot announced that we were returning to Minneapolis due to a 'security' problem. I was very aware of the word 'security' and just as clearly aware that the pilot did not say we had a mechanical problem.
My first and most immediate thought was, "It has finally happened. I am on a plane with a hijacker in the pilot's cabin or they have found a bomb or some suspicious weapon, or received a bomb threat." The pilot's voice was unsteady and he stumbled over his words. Fear flooded my body and in this one horrifying moment, I considered the idea that my world as I knew it and even my life could possibly be coming to an end. I scanned the faces of the passengers wondering if they knew something I did not. I have watched one too many airplane hijacking movies and was looking for one or more of the passengers to jump up and start yelling at the rest of the passengers while brandishing guns or similar weapons.
The pilot then announced that Norwest Air had requested that all planes return to the ground as 2 airplanes have just crashed into the World Trade Towers and one into the Pentagon. In addition, a fourth airplane was suspected to be hijacked and on its way to the White house. My relief for my personal safety was immediate, but it was by replaced fear of another kind. "Was this it, the event that had to happen, a concerted and well-planned attack on America? Could it get worse and what if the US ended up in chaos, even a military state. How would we, how would I handle this test?" Needless to say, my mind ran wild, my fears leading my thoughts.
Our pilot did not have other news for us at that time. The stewardesses were obviously not aware of this information as shock registered on their faces. How could this type of tragedy happen and we not know this? Less than 45 minutes earlier, I was sitting outside the airplane watching the news and I remember thinking to myself, that "all was 'OK in my world and 'relatively' calm in the U.S. It was an odd experience to realize that even with all the immediacy of news coverage and access to news we have, that something of this nature could occur and that people could not know it. Any city, any building, anywhere could disappear and we could not know it. I have grown so dependent upon the immediacy of news and I felt so powerless to be flying 30,000 plus feet above the US without a way to connect to the reality of life below.
The pilot came back on the PA and reported that all airlines had been 'asked' to ground all flights and clear the airspace. As we were deplaning, one of the passengers reported that his contacts (using his cell phone) indicated that the world trade towers were collapsing, New York City was being shut down, and evacuated. And at least one airplane was still unaccounted for, probably hijacked and suspected to be heading toward the white house.
One of the stewardesses, after going through the verbal ritual of instructing passengers to "wait until the plane has come to a full stop before taking off our seatbelts and standing" said, "This policy has been necessary to keep passengers from reaching the terminal before the plane." This broke the tension.
Needless to say, there was chaos at the airport. It was shut down until at least 6:00 p.m. initially, and in reality until later the next day. According to one of the baggage handlers, more than 200 flights were landing in the space of a few hours at MSP. There was baggage everywhere, spilling off the carousels. I found my luggage, rebooked my flight for next morning, Wed a.m. at 6:00 a.m. and found a motel for the night, and hoped still to attend the conference in Charleston, SC.
Saying a prayer for all those who lives were sacrificed by a few for a cause yet to be understood.
Debra :)
I was on the 8:10 a.m. plane this Tuesday, Sept 11, 2001 morning. I was on my way to Detroit, headed to Charleston, SC when the pilot announced that we were returning to Minneapolis due to a 'security' problem. I was very aware of the word 'security' and just as clearly aware that the pilot did not say we had a mechanical problem.
My first and most immediate thought was, "It has finally happened. I am on a plane with a hijacker in the pilot's cabin or they have found a bomb or some suspicious weapon, or received a bomb threat." The pilot's voice was unsteady and he stumbled over his words. Fear flooded my body and in this one horrifying moment, I considered the idea that my world as I knew it and even my life could possibly be coming to an end. I scanned the faces of the passengers wondering if they knew something I did not. I have watched one too many airplane hijacking movies and was looking for one or more of the passengers to jump up and start yelling at the rest of the passengers while brandishing guns or similar weapons.
The pilot then announced that Norwest Air had requested that all planes return to the ground as 2 airplanes have just crashed into the World Trade Towers and one into the Pentagon. In addition, a fourth airplane was suspected to be hijacked and on its way to the White house. My relief for my personal safety was immediate, but it was by replaced fear of another kind. "Was this it, the event that had to happen, a concerted and well-planned attack on America? Could it get worse and what if the US ended up in chaos, even a military state. How would we, how would I handle this test?" Needless to say, my mind ran wild, my fears leading my thoughts.
Our pilot did not have other news for us at that time. The stewardesses were obviously not aware of this information as shock registered on their faces. How could this type of tragedy happen and we not know this? Less than 45 minutes earlier, I was sitting outside the airplane watching the news and I remember thinking to myself, that "all was 'OK in my world and 'relatively' calm in the U.S. It was an odd experience to realize that even with all the immediacy of news coverage and access to news we have, that something of this nature could occur and that people could not know it. Any city, any building, anywhere could disappear and we could not know it. I have grown so dependent upon the immediacy of news and I felt so powerless to be flying 30,000 plus feet above the US without a way to connect to the reality of life below.
The pilot came back on the PA and reported that all airlines had been 'asked' to ground all flights and clear the airspace. As we were deplaning, one of the passengers reported that his contacts (using his cell phone) indicated that the world trade towers were collapsing, New York City was being shut down, and evacuated. And at least one airplane was still unaccounted for, probably hijacked and suspected to be heading toward the white house.
One of the stewardesses, after going through the verbal ritual of instructing passengers to "wait until the plane has come to a full stop before taking off our seatbelts and standing" said, "This policy has been necessary to keep passengers from reaching the terminal before the plane." This broke the tension.
Needless to say, there was chaos at the airport. It was shut down until at least 6:00 p.m. initially, and in reality until later the next day. According to one of the baggage handlers, more than 200 flights were landing in the space of a few hours at MSP. There was baggage everywhere, spilling off the carousels. I found my luggage, rebooked my flight for next morning, Wed a.m. at 6:00 a.m. and found a motel for the night, and hoped still to attend the conference in Charleston, SC.
Saying a prayer for all those who lives were sacrificed by a few for a cause yet to be understood.
Debra :)
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