Mixed emotions today…Bills opener + 9/11

[eball]

Like many of you, I will never forget exactly where I was back in 2001 when a friend called me to say a plane hit the first tower…I had just returned home the night before, traveling through Newark.  The rest of the next couple of weeks are a blur.  My sister was trapped downtown and had to walk miles to get home, and I don’t think I slept for several nights just watching and re-watching the CNN coverage.  I had worked on the 65th floor of WTC during law school and thought about whether people I had met and worked with were there…

 

Fast forward 22 years later…I am so excited for the football season to start and get our Bills back on the field.  I’m not buying any of the national clickbait that the window has closed or is closing…this is an experienced, talented, dialed-in football team that will begin to show the rest of the world what’s coming at 8:15 pm tonight.

 

Never forget this day, and GO BILLS!!!

 

[Dan]

I experienced far more on the morning of the 11th and in the weeks and months to follow than I would ever care to remember.  But I have never forgotten, nor do I think its possible.  This time of year always brings a certain sadness to me.   The Bills have always been part of my therapy to get back to normal.  

 

I’ll be excited for the game, as well, but it will take some drinks to wear off the bitter memories of the morning.  
 

Go Bills!

 

[babulator]

The day is just starting and my stomach is already wrecked I'm soo anxious. Go Bills!

[Beast]

One of, if not the worst day in American history.

 

Never forget.

[JerseyBills]

i was in middle school. Remember seeing the smoke n thinking it'll travel to north jersey lol 

We went up to this site by the Hudson that night and there was military all up there. Was wild day, cpl friends lost their parents that day

[Virgil]

I was at JMU, waiting for a bus to take my back to my apartment.  Two girls were sitting on the steps in front of me, talking about a plane hitting one of the towers.  In that moment, I thought they were talking about a movie they had seen.  On the bus ride home, they had the news playing on the radio, something that never happened before.  On the 10 minute drive home, I realized it was all real and proceeded to my gf's apartment, where everyone was in the living room watching the news on TV.

[blacklabel]

I was asleep when my mom ran in to wake me up. Turned on the TV. Thought it was a terrible accident at first. Then we saw the second plane hit live and that's when the day just got really strange. 

[Nephilim17]

It's certainly a vitally important day and one that should be filled with remembrance and tribute.

But I wish the Bills were not playing on this day, and certainly not against a "New York" team.

[sherpa]

I was a check airman on the 767 for one of the airlines involved.

I had a brand new copilot on his first trip in the 767. We had flown from NY to San Francisco the day prior, and this was a 6am departure from San Francisco going back.

I had just finished the required PA mentioning to keep seat belts fastened any time in the seats. 

A message came on the cockpit console printer from our company dispatch stating "Numerous cockpit incursions.  Do not allow anyone to enter."

I read it and put it aside, A few minutes later I got another one stating numerous cockpit incursions, suggest immediate divert. We were the only airplane on the FAA control frequency as it was really early on the west coast. I told them I was going back to San Francisco and turned the thing around. I was just west of Las Vegas, and since I was a west coast Nay pilot in a former life, I was familiar with all the military bases. I planned to go in Navy Fallon if the door was breached.

I got the flight attendants construct a minor barricade to the cockpit using service carts.

I got a bunch of really bizarre messages on the return asking me to verify if I was still in command.

I knew it was really serious when they asked me to send verification data that was personal.

Eventually, I told them we were OK but that I was too busy to respond anymore. 

Started down over Modesto, and by now the pax had figured out we had turned around and were descending, so I made a PA stating that the airplane was fine, we were returning to San Francisco and they would be informed of an issue once we landed.

By now I had learned that we had lost two airplanes.

Bay approach cleared me for an approach called the "Quiet Bridge," which is an eastern arrival noise abatement approach to avoid overflying the east bay.

The told them I was not going to do that, but that I was going to point the airplane at the the end of runway 28L and land the thing. I also told them that if someone tried to come through the door I was going to put the thing in the Bay and they better come get us.

A bit of a pause and the approach controller said that if I out the thing in the Bay they would get us.

Came over the San Mateo Bridge, about five miles from landing, and saw about 30 emergency vehicles on the taxiways near the runway. No airplanes.

Landed and they all chased us to the gate, and when I parked I saw about ten guys on the ramp with automatic weapons out.

Found out after landing that the flight that I had clown almost exclusively for the two years prior to getting the check airman position, the morning Dulles to LA had hit the Pentagon.

I knew I'd know the folks flying it, cockpit and cabin, and sure enough. I knew them all.

Horrible day. Horrible week. 

Got home Saturday and went to two memorial services, one for the captain who was buried at Arlington, and one for a husband/wife flight attendant couple that were killed at the Pentagon.

 

[Mark80]

Undergrad at Cornell.  Waking up getting ready for French class someone told me a plane hit the Tower.  Walked up to class and in the lobby I could see the second tower had been hit.  After class in that same lobby I saw the first tower just collapsed.  At that point classes got cancelled and I walked back to our house.  I can vividly remember people on their cell phones crying, desperately trying to reach friends and family but unable to get through to anyone as the lines were jammed.  Obviously there is a huge number of NYC, Long Island, Metro area students who have family and alumni that work in those from Cornell.  It was quite a surreal scene that I'll never forget.  Can't imagine what people who were actually there went through.

[Xwnyer]

I am hoping that the visiting team has the same kind of things go their way as last nights visiting team did against that other NEW JERSEY team.

[eball]

wow, @sherpa -- just wow.

 

[scuba guy]

Was eating breakfast with my dad and we were watching the today show they had a remote on the east river looking at the morning skyline 🏙 😒 when the first plane flow over.  My dad and I just looked at each other and said nothing.  We both went outside and put are american flag up.  People were stopping and saluting the flag.

 

Came inside saw the second one get hit like it was a dream.  Called 3 of my friends went to Wegmans purchased all the water and snacks we could and drove in to NYC high speed had a police escort.

 

Found out 4 of my friends were on the 1 plane that had just landed.  Years later had 2 students parents who switched flights and were supposed to by on those 2 flights.  

 

Small world we live in.

 

Thank you tbd

 

And God bless the USA and all of your families 👪 🙏 

[NoHuddleKelly12]

Great way to encapsulate what so many of us are feeling on a day like today, OP. I was in my 2L year of lawschool and had popped on CNN to grab a quick news fix before leaving my apartment for a 10am evidence class—needless to say, seeing one of the Towers smoking and reports of an airplane accident made me take notice, and saw the 2nd impact live. From then it was chaos with my butt rooted to the seat glued to the coverage the rest of the day and frantic attempted calls to family and friends located in Pa and NY…my roommate who’d left for an earlier class came back at some point, openly crying as his brother worked in the City near there and could not be reached, all phones jammed. Fortunately he wound up being ok, had to escape on foot over one of the bridges out. My experience of course was nothing compared to those of you who wound up losing people or were directly involved in responding to the day's events…They say time heals all wounds, but this is one that should mark us for a lifetime of remembrance. 

[Mojo44]

I was a consulting psychologist at a nursing facility in Syracuse that morning. I remember it being a pleasant, warm sunny day. I was going from one patient to my next one when my wife called me on the cell phone and told me what happened. I hurried to the community room at the facility and watch what was going on for a few minutes in total disbelief. It was very difficult to finish out my day seeing my patients but I managed to do it. I was stunned.

 

To make matters worse, September 11 is my wife’s birthday. She turned 40 on that day and we had a big celebration planned. Needless to say, we did not celebrate.

[ExWNYer]

Thanks to all of you who have shared your memories of 9/11. I got chills reading many of them, especially @sherpa

 

I had been working at a government agency exactly a month to the day of 9/11 (transferred from a different agency). I was settling in for a class with the 22 other people hired into this program. One of my classmates came in and said, "A plane just flew into one of the Twin Towers...they don't know yet if it was an accident or intentional." We all got up and scrambled from this building back to the trailers where we were temporarily housed because there was a TV there. We watched in disbelief and then saw the second strike. Everyone was stunned and somber. Our instructors decided at that point to just send us all home for the day. As I drove home and found out as I listened on the radio that it was a suspected act of terrorism, I remember thinking to myself, "What kind of world are we leaving to our children?" At the time, my now 23 year old son was a mere 18 months old and I feared for him and his future.

 

Once home, I went out and purchased two American flag magnets to affix to my car and my wife's car, then watched coverage nonstop like most everyone else and it felt like I was living a weird and scary dream from which I could not wake up. The next day as I arrived at work, there were all kinds of armed military and agency police at the gates. We were instructed to park in the open fields near the warehouses and we were bussed to our buildings where Jersey barriers had been set up everywhere. Nobody was allowed to drive or park anywhere near the buildings. It was surreal. A mere month later, we were all on a plane to Columbus, OH for a two week training stay. Needless to say, I was nervous flying for the first time since the day of those tragic events and I don't get nervous or anxious when flying. Hard to believe it's been twenty-two years since it all happened. Seems like yesterday. BTW, three days prior I had been up in Manassas, VA with my brother for a Jimmy Buffett concert at Nissan Pavilion (RIP, JB ). We partied our arses off not knowing that our lives...and everyone else's...would be changed forever. God bless those who lost loved ones and those brave men and women who worked selflessly to save others, many of whom ended up paying the ultimate sacrifice themselves.

 

Never Forget. Go Bills! 

[NewEra]

🙏🏻 

 

I was setting up the Cabanas at The Mirage pool in Las Vegas.  I would always turn on a tv in the area I was setting up and listen to sportscenter.  The previous 5 tvs I turned on were already on espn.   Cabana 19 was tuned into cnn.  My heart sunk and my life changed.  I called several of my friend from HS and college that were working in the city.  Thankfully, I hadn’t lost anyone close to me, but sadly, several of my friends had lost people close to them.  I feel very fortunate that I was able to heal.  Some of my friends still haven’t recovered entirely.  And never will. 
 

thank you to the first responders.  
❤️ 💙 

 

Go Bills

[ChevyVanMiller]

I've posted this in year's past, but I wrote about my experience on 9/11 and the column went viral.

Here's a link. https://niagarafallsreporter.com/croisdale26.html?fbclid=IwAR0WD8ID6zWXPY8aE__7q5eGl9lSioSGDHMV6ae7TNHDu4U_dJPvKkaPEp0

May we never forget!

Edited September 11, 2023 by ChevyVanMiller

[sherpa]

And to think it all could have been avoided if the FBI in Washington simply responded to its field office in Minneapolis and read the hard drive of   Zacarias Moussaoui, exposed by a retired simulator flight instructor to authorities.

[Steptide]

One thing I'll never forget, I was at work when 9/11 happened (like many of us). One thing that struck me, is how many people at my work just went on as buisness as usual. I remember feeling like, how can nobody care? 22 years later, at the same employer, and it doesn't surprise me in the least now 

[Draconator]

I was living in California working with my ex in her gardening business. On 9/11, we were to go to a client's house for a major landscape install, and we were overseeing it. When we got there, the husband and wife were in shock. They had just come home from NYC to visit their son in college. The husband wanted to get a good night's sleep and fly out the next morning, but the wife wanted to be there for the installation so they took a red-eye back to San Francisco. The flight the next morning was flight 93. 

[ColoradoBills]

As horrible as the 9/11 attacks were, for about 15 minutes my best friend and I were thinking the "unthinkable" happened.

It was surreal.

 

My best friend Dave and I were hunting near Gunnison Colorado.  We hunted hard Saturday, Sunday and Monday and decided to take

Tuesday morning off and sleep in.  I can't remember exactly what time (Mountain Time Zone) we got up and I started to make a big

breakfast in the camper while Dave mixed a couple of Bloody Mary's.

 

Dave (a big baseball fan) decided to get his old analog tuner radio fired up to try get some scores.  Reception in the Rockies is iffy at best.

As the radio reception went in and out, we just heard reports of NYC sealed off and a cloud over Manhattan along with an attack on the

Pentagon in DC.  The radio news reporter was also reporting that all commercial planes are being recalled and fighter aircraft are being

scrambled across the country.

 

You can only IMAGINE what Dave and I were thinking!  I will never forget Dave's look at me (a kind of horrified questioning look) and both of

us being Air Force vets, I said what we we're both thinking.  I whispered a one word question, Nukes?

 

I will admit we were somewhat relieved when the next report recapped exactly what had happened.  We cleaned up and drove off the 

mountain to Gunnison to call family and friends.  Those 15 minutes were the most terrifying moments of my life.

 

 

[wakingfane]

2 hours ago, sherpa said:

I was a check airman on the 767 for one of the airlines involved.

I had a brand new copilot on his first trip in the 767. We had flown from NY to San Francisco the day prior, and this was a 6am departure from San Francisco going back.

I had just finished the required PA mentioning to keep seat belts fastened any time in the seats. 

A message came on the cockpit console printer from our company dispatch stating "Numerous cockpit incursions.  Do not allow anyone to enter."

I read it and put it aside, A few minutes later I got another one stating numerous cockpit incursions, suggest immediate divert. We were the only airplane on the FAA control frequency as it was really early on the west coast. I told them I was going back to San Francisco and turned the thing around. I was just west of Las Vegas, and since I was a west coast Nay pilot in a former life, I was familiar with all the military bases. I planned to go in Navy Fallon if the door was breached.

I got the flight attendants construct a minor barricade to the cockpit using service carts.

I got a bunch of really bizarre messages on the return asking me to verify if I was still in command.

I knew it was really serious when they asked me to send verification data that was personal.

Eventually, I told them we were OK but that I was too busy to respond anymore. 

Started down over Modesto, and by now the pax had figured out we had turned around and were descending, so I made a PA stating that the airplane was fine, we were returning to San Francisco and they would be informed of an issue once we landed.

By now I had learned that we had lost two airplanes.

Bay approach cleared me for an approach called the "Quiet Bridge," which is an eastern arrival noise abatement approach to avoid overflying the east bay.

The told them I was not going to do that, but that I was going to point the airplane at the the end of runway 28L and land the thing. I also told them that if someone tried to come through the door I was going to put the thing in the Bay and they better come get us.

A bit of a pause and the approach controller said that if I out the thing in the Bay they would get us.

Came over the San Mateo Bridge, about five miles from landing, and saw about 30 emergency vehicles on the taxiways near the runway. No airplanes.

Landed and they all chased us to the gate, and when I parked I saw about ten guys on the ramp with automatic weapons out.

Found out after landing that the flight that I had clown almost exclusively for the two years prior to getting the check airman position, the morning Dulles to LA had hit the Pentagon.

I knew I'd know the folks flying it, cockpit and cabin, and sure enough. I knew them all.

Horrible day. Horrible week. 

Got home Saturday and went to two memorial services, one for the captain who was buried at Arlington, and one for a husband/wife flight attendant couple that were killed at the Pentagon.

 

Wow, I never considered that with every other flight diverting, every single plane in the air became off course and suspicious on top of the actual terrorist flightpath diversions 

[The Firebaugh Kid]

Definitely a somber day for a football opener. 9/11 will always be a day of remembrance for all of us. 

My high school girlfriend and I had both moved on after 6 years of dating, and I remember us talking on the phone that day like it was the end of the world (it truly felt like it). In a strange way, 9/11 helped bring us back together. We'll be married 20 years in October with two beautiful kids. 

 

We visited the 9/11 memorial last fall. I strongly encourage people to visit, but be prepared....there is a tangible heaviness in the air.

No one speaks, all you hear is the occasional sniffle. My daughter and I just stood there at the pool in silence because, well, it's hard to talk when you're ears are full of tears. 

It's important for all of us to remember those innocent people who lost their lives that day in such a horrific way.

We carry on for them, and we will never forget. 

 

[GoBills808]

crazy day

 

i was watching it on the news getting ready for school, obviously cancelled

 

had never seen my folks cry before

[sherpa]

4 minutes ago, wakingfane said:

Wow, I never considered that with every other flight diverting, every single plane in the air became off course and suspicious on top of the actual terrorist flightpath diversions 

 

It wasn't quite that way.

If airplanes were responding to communications, and their transponders were working, there was no threat.

On the other hand, there was nearly instantaneous profiling done by the two companies involved.

Type of airplane, transcon and another factor I'm not going to mention.

If a flight was in that three criteria profile it was flagged.

That's why I got so much company dispatch com during the event.

The air traffic controllers said nothing to me, in fact, the only other transmission I heard was a TWA, (still around at the time) diverting to Sacramento.

What I learned subsequent, was that the FAA was concerned because I had gone from mach .8 to mach .83. They don't don't see mach, but they do see groundspeed, and we had gone from about 475 to about 560. It was one of those really unusual days where we had winds from the east, at altitude.

So, they saw us turn around and significantly increase airspeed, thus their concern.

Still, they never said a word.

 

[wakingfane]

I was 19, living in Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks. I was on my way to work as a server at a barbecue joint and stopped at the Sears store downtown to buy... vacuum bags. Walked past the wall of TV's showing a disaster movie with no sound on. Got my bags, looked back at the tvs thinking, that's weird, they have been showing the same movie scene since I walked in...   wait a minute, no... No!!! This is real...  By the time I got to work, the second plane had hit. Still worked the whole day and I'll never forget it. So quiet, the only sounds were what the cooks made in the back... The TVs on all day but after a few hours, no volume in the restaurant either, every interaction with customers, taking orders and providing food, included a quiet, reverence for the shocking moment we were sharing, unspoken thoughts for everyone down there and a shared fear for ourselves, even as far away as we were. 

[stinky finger]

I gotta say, all these years later and the emotions I felt that day (I was 37) just rush back so vividly - even today. It is just so sobering. Unlike any event I’ve encountered. 
 

Reading through each posters recollections really is quite striking. Thank you to those who shared. 
 

Tonight’s game suddenly just doesn’t seem that important. 
 

God bless - Go Bills!

[UKBillFan]

I was at high school (would be middle school age in US terms), and we were studying the press. We had a lesson on the morning of the 11th - being five hours ahead of New York - where she said, "I wish something big would happen so we can compare front pages of the papers."

 

The next day, she came in with the papers and simply said, "I didn't mean that."

[Kenosha2Buffalo]

I was in sixth grade history class.. teacher got a call and then they started telling us they were going to  call our parents to go home. Really hate the month of September 9/11  because I lost my dad 12 days later... I appreciate being able to share that with you guys though. Rip dad ( huge bills fan ) and go bills. 

Edited September 11, 2023 by Kenosha2Buffalo

[Whites Bay]

My sojourn wasn't as wild as Sherpa's, but I also had adventures in air travel.  I was in Perth doing some training when I called my wife to check in.  It was night time there.  "You need to turn on the TV".  Wow.  Gloves off.  And...like...NOW WHAT?  I knew standard procedure would be to seal off the airspace, so I scrambled as fast as I could with the travel agent (yeah, we used those back then).  Too late.  US airspace closed.  Tried to get back via Vancouver.  Too late.  Canadian airspace closed.  Didn't even contemplate trying to get back through Mexico.  I was slated to travel back from Sydney to Los Angeles the next day, but the idea of being on an overwater trip with a US flag on the fuselage didn't seem like a good idea.  So the next morning I went down to the local travel agent in Perth and rebooked on neutral carriers.  Singapore Airways from Perth to Singapore, connecting to London Heathrow.  Heathrow was an insane mob scene.  I mean - everything was locked up.  I just ended up grabbing a hotel and called the company and said "See you when I can see you".  It took a week to get home.  Booked an Air Canada flight to Ottawa, rented a car, and drove across on the Ogdensburg bridge.  I've never been so happy to hand my passport to the border patrol in my entire life.