| I was at work that fateful
morning flying a Northwest Airlines DC-9 from MSP to DCA! We
were with Cleveland Center over northern Ohio when we got
our first hint that something was wrong. An eastbound
corporate jet out of Toledo was directed back to its
departure airport by Cleveland Center. When the corporate
pilot asked why, ATC responded, “Emergency on the East
Coast, you’ll find out when you get on the ground.”
We thought this was odd, and
my first officer tuned the ADF to an AM station to get news.
After hearing what had happened, my first officer turned to
me and said, “You’re not going to believe this.” The second
tower had just been hit.
Shortly after that, we
started getting messages from Northwest Dispatch telling us
to divert to Pittsburgh. Then Pittsburgh became unavailable
(due to United 93 over Pennsylvania?), and we were told to
divert to CLE. Since we were over CLE at cruise altitude, a
diversion to DTW became a better option, considering that it
was a Northwest hub with NW gates, agents, etc. The urgency
to get us on the ground was apparent, and, frankly, we were
relieved to land safely, not knowing who or what might be
aboard our aircraft!
Captain Neal Nickerson, Delta |
