September 11th. Where were you 13 years ago?
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fish82
The airlines' capacity was significantly higher in 2001 than it is today...I flew on 1/2-1/3 full flights all the time then. I once flew an RJ from CVG-DCA where I was the only guy on the plane.Scarlet_Buckeye;1652999 wrote:What’s most important about September 11[SUP]th[/SUP] is that we never forget.
On or around this time every year, I like to read/watch various clippings about these horrendous events so that I never forget just how horrible these attacks truly were. Much of my discovery/research typically involves reading various Wikipedia entries regarding the events, or various journal articles highlighting some of the heroic stories of valor & bravery.
Today, while rummaging thru the “September 11 attacks” Wikipedia entry, I stumbled upon a section that detailed the four commercial airliners that were hijacked. While I had always known that the terrorists intentionally planned & hijacked “bigger” commercial airliners (due to being heavily fueled, thus essentially turning the planes into “bigger bombs”
, I did not know the that the four aircrafts carried only [and I say “only” not to belittle the impact of these events, but rather to emphasis my complete surprise] 11 crew and 76 passengers on the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] flight (AA 11), 9 crew and 51 passengers on the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] flight (UA 175), 6 crew and 53 passengers on the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] flight (AA 77), and 7 crew and 33 passengers on the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] flight (UA 93). This is stunning to me, because knowing these bigger aircrafts like I do from the various business travels I've been on, I've never once seen a Boeing 700 series this “empty”. To put these numbers into perspective, the two commercial airliners were Boeing 757s and two were Boeing 767s, which typically seat around 214 passengers per plane.
I’m not sure about anyone else on here… but I can’t tell you the last time I rode a plane where almost 65% of the plane was EMPTY. In fact, I’m certain I've NEVER experienced this.
Perhaps this is public knowledge and I've simply been living under a rock… but was it ever announced that these terrorists intentionally bought up seats on these planes in order to “reduce” the potential for civilian passengers to prevent them from carrying out their jihad!?!
For the life of me, I could never quite understand how these terrorists hijacked these aircrafts. It’s extremely difficult to WALK up the aisle in an airplane (especially when it’s a full flight), let alone CHARGE the cockpit. But if these flights were 65% EMPTY, then that certainly sheds a little more light onto how this diabolical plan was indeed carried out. -
QuakerOats
I had a family member on a golf course on the east side and the plane was crossing over way, way lower than a normal glide path into Hopkins, then it banked sharply and began to turn around to head to PA.Classyposter58;1653084 wrote:Does anyone remember how the one turned around over Cleveland? There was a real scary moment there for 15-20 minutes where most thought it would get ran into the Key Bank Building -
Trueblue23
I was in the 7th grade. I walked by the counselors office shortly after the first plane hit, while on my way to class. I walked into the computer lab and told my classmates and the teacher, they didn't believe me. About 5 minutes later, we left the lab and went into a classroom where the news was playing. We watched the second plane hit live. Insane. -
believer
Was in my office when I got a message from our IT manager telling me to pull up USA Today on my computer. I thought it was odd because our company had a strict policy on non-business related internet use at the time.
I saw the first photos of the first tower to get hit and the IT guy says, "it appears that a small aircraft just crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center." I told him that was a helluva lot of smoke for a small aircraft. Shortly after that the second tower was hit and our entire office staff rushed to the lunch room where the only TV was located.
We stood there in awe when that first tower dropped. Couldn't believe it. I told my buddy that life for all of us is about to change pretty dramatically.
Very odd day indeed. -
Ironman92
4th year of teaching and walking by the display case near the gym and a teacher I rarely talked to told me....took me a few minutes for it to really sink in.
Couple hours later the school was pretty much a mess and at the end of the day one of the little sibling effers waiting on his brother with his mom pulled the fire alarm and sent most into a panic.
Remember needing gas but couldn't get it anywhere for less than $1 more than it was 12 hours ago. -
ptown_trojans_1
Sophomore year in H.S. For some reason our TVs were not working. So, it was more of a word of mouth thing. Heard it while changing classes. We listened to it on the radio, which was really odd.
I then left for lunch, as we had an open lunch policy. And, I just watched the rest of the day from home.
Was just speechless for the whole day. -
brutus161
I was standing watch in the USS Wyoming while we were in dry dock. Every other ship was sent out immediately. We were the only ones left because we were not water tight at the time. It was the most frightened I have ever been in my life. -
Pick6
Mrs. Moore's 5th grade English class watching Channel One news and she flipped it over to watch the real news. I'll never forget. -
BRF
This had a great impact on me, also.cruiser_96;1653019 wrote:
Another thing I am recalling today was the fact that no airplanes were flying overhead for the next day or two. Thay was odd when it wasgoing on. Very quiet.
Just a little while ago, I looked up into the sky and saw nothing (very cloudy, but I think 13 years ago it was clear).
I just remember the eerie feeling of seeing nothing in the sky that night. -
Terry_Tate
Knew I was close in age to a lot of people on here but same grade as quite a few. Was in 10th grade history class when someone came in and said to turn on the TV. That was right after the second plane hit and we spent the rest of the day watching it. I remember thinking that there was no way those buildings could stay up and had a sick feeling just waiting for them to fall. Then went home and watched the news all night with my family.
Speaking of gas prices, I think there was only one by where I live in Cincinnati that gouged customers and nobody in my family has gotten gas from there in the 13 years since the attacks. Couldn't believe they would do that shit.
Definitely a day and week that will never be fully forgotten.