We at Flight Journal consider it to be an honor to present stories of those who were directly involved in the events of 9/11 as pilots or flight crew. This is yet another view of the event that has shaped our present and our future.
“Our plane has been hijacked. Flight attendant #1 stabbed. Flight attendant #5 stabbed. A business class passenger’s throat has been slashed and he is bleeding severely and may be dead. The captain is not flying the aircraft. Something’s terribly wrong. I see the water. I see the buildings.” After a short pause, she says, “We are flying low. We are flying very, very low. We are flying way too low! Oh my God!” The phone went dead.
“A colleague relayed this information to us on a conference call at approximately 10:30 a.m. central time at American Airlines headquarters in Fort Worth. One of the flight attendants aboard hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 was able to connect with a manager at her base in Boston and relayed crucial information shortly before the aircraft crashed into the World Trade Center.
“Earlier, I was driving into work on a gorgeous Tuesday morning. The DJ of my favorite radio station said it was the 11th day of September and just in from the newsroom was a report that a small general aviation aircraft had hit one of the World Trade Center towers. I thought to myself, ‘How horrible’ and figured that someone flying solo had probably had a heart attack at the yoke or something.
Read the story published in honor of the 10th Anniversary of this horrific event,
