by beaky » Mon Sep 12, 2005 3:16 pm
Such a pleasant day for me yesterday I nearly forgot what day it was... but i very clearly remember that day.
In '01 I was in that area the day before; just happened to be scheduled for a site in midtown on the 11th because the job downtown was done... had I been down there, I'd have been coming up out of the PATH station below the towers probably between the first and second collisions. Still gives me a little shiver, thinking about that. I've heard terrible stories, from friends who were there, about what it was like at the foot of those towers just after the planes struck. And I know more than one person who was killed up there, in the impact zones.
Glad I missed it.
As it turned out, my call on Tuesday was for around 11 AM; at nine-ish I turned on the TV to check the weather to see if I could put Peg out in her run for the day (hadn't built her doghouse yet) before driving down to NYC (lived up near Bear Mt. at the time).
My first thought (after first plane hit; just saw shot of burning bldg):
"Hm... this is not the weather... looks like a fire. What happened to the sprinklers?"
Second thought (saw the slashing hole, and heard the commentary): "Crap. A plane. Too big for a light airplane... but how could an airliner wind up doing that?"
Third thought (when second plane hit): "I'd always hoped they'd wait until after I'd died to start WWIII... looks like I get the day off. Maybe I should pack some things and head west- they say several birds are still not accounted for- Indian Point nuke plant is less than 20 miles away; then there's the C-5 fleet at Stewart, etc...."
Started packing; changed my mind; sat down to watch more; tried to call people, got nobody, watched TV, cried, worried, smoked lots of cigarettes, and grew more and more angry as the reports came in. Such... wrongness. And with civilian airplanes... the pilot half of me was in an agony all its own. The crew- could there be a worse fate for a professional pilot than having your command taken away for such a purpose?
May it never happen again... but it's not over, is it?
And I'm still angry....
Last edited by
beaky on Mon Sep 12, 2005 3:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.