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I was in surgery [ i was an OR Nurse] doing an appendectomy when someone from outside of the surgical suite flipped on the intercom and told us what was happening. The surgeon told the tech to tell whoever was telling us the news to not say anymore because we needed to concentrate on what we were doing.
I was in Switzerland visiting a client location (US Corp). We were in a meeting when someone came in and told us what happened. We did not realize how serious it was and continued. Then, when the meeting was over we went out and everyone was in the lobby watching CNN!
My wife had been due to fly from Atlanta to La Guardia that morning so I immediately asked if I could use a phone but could not get through to her (turned out she landed 15 mins before the first plane struck and was able to get over the Whitestone Bridge before it closed). Remember, it was some time before we knew which planes had struck. Anyway, we were due to drive to the airport to go to London for another site visit and, unable to call my wife, I was not doing too well. One of the other guys took the rental car keys off me and told me I wasn't fit to drive.
We got to the airport and British Airways told us our flight was delayed as they were turning around all their transatlantics and bringing them back into London. We finally got there about 3 hours late and that was when I managed to get through to my wife. Heathrow was amazing. You have never seen so many 747s parked in one place; in many cases they were parked nose to nose.
The next day we did our client meetings but it soon became apparent that we were not flying home that night. The company called and told us all expense rules were off and that we could spend what we needed to. Then Amex Travel called and told us we were priority but they had no idea when they could get us home. So we spent an extended vacation in London and finally were able to fly home on the Monday.
I was asleep and was awakened by a phone call from my mom right after the second plane had hit the WTC.
I'm still curious why we didn't nuke Afghanistan in the wake of that. If you wanna play against the big boys then you should take big boy penalties. Now we have a situation where the Taliban is making a comeback and our military is exhausted. One or two tactical nukes would have more than done the job at the time.
I was being a goofy college kid and looking to join the Reporters Without Borders. I also remember having a nutty gf who I kept around just because she was hot. And that "action" probably kept me sane since I was working a 21 credit semester in engineering with journalism on the side.
I was also sharing a room with a nutty Indian guy. We were both sleeping when a friend of mine called and told me the news. I was like "OMG!"
As an aerospace engineer, who believes that flying is an art and airplanes are beautiful things, it makes me sad to think that the things I help design and engineer were used to cause such sadness and destruction. In the sophomore aeronautical engineering class we had new projects: devise a method to prevent terrorist takeovers of airplanes, and since our prof. had contacts in the airframe manufacturing world, he promised us if he liked any of the ideas he'd pitch them.
One idea, that was employed, was to have new doors to the cockpit be installed and not unlocked. Those doors can withstand grenade blasts (figured if it was more the whole plane would go down). Another idea was to have a switch which a pilot can throw if it looked like the plane would be hijacked which would automatically engage autopilot without possibility for it being turned off. Another idea was to have a predetermined course no matter the flight and if it deviated then it would go on autopilot to the nearest suitable airport.
Yeah ... campus was pretty bummed out the whole time. Even the Greeks had set up funds for families of those who died. The on-campus Islamic foundation immediately condemned the attacks and invited people to sessions on how more progressive Muslims don't do that. I could see it in the eyes of some of the Muslim students ... they knew that with those airplanes, someone had hijacked their religion and twisted it. Thankfully I don't think any violence towards the muslim students happened, though I did notice quite a bit of hostile staring.
Last edited by eskercurve; 12-06-2009 at 10:40 PM..
I was at work when my buddy came up to me and told me a plane hit the WTC. I was thinkin' Cessna.
The AM radio station that we were listening to was not very informative, so I turned the TV on that was in the breakroom, just in time to see the 2nd plane hit.
The boss saw it too and sent everyone home.
I tried to get cash out of the ATM on the way home.
Nope.
Nothin' but fighter planes in the sky for days after.
1. The employees in the building started to head for the elevators and stairwells, but they were told by their bosses that everything is under control, go back to their cubicles. Had they been allowed to evacuate, the death tolll would have been near zero.
how you figure that? I assume you mean the death toll from the 2nd tower?
I was off work that day and (for once) was up early watching the "Today" show. I remember that when the first plane hit, everyone thought it was an accident and a small plane. I also remember the second plane hitting. I went to youtube and found that footage-it is chilling even now.
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