I was on a layover in
downtown New York at the Milford Plaza. It was a beautiful
morning and I went for an early run. Afterward, while
visiting a software store, I saw the footage of the first
tower on fire. I thought it was a video game at first, until
the salesman told me it was real. I went back to the hotel,
where my F/O and I decided to walk toward the towers, not
knowing what was going on. On the way there, all traffic was
stopped. We heard car radios talking of terrorist attacks.
We heard that the second tower had been hit, but no real
details. Just then, we heard the whine of two jet fighters
in a high-speed turn over the city. As we got closer to the
site, we passed a hospital and could see off-duty medical
personnel running to the building. Some emergency equipment
was driving away from the tower area covered in grey dust.
When we could finally see where the towers were (maybe 8 to
10 blocks away), all we could see were the dust and smoke
plumes where the towers once stood. We spent the next five
days in New York before we could get out. On a very sad
note, the Fire Department station next to the Milford sent
its morning shift to the towers. All of them were killed.
People kept bringing flowers and candles to the Fire
Department building, creating a makeshift memorial. After
two days, you could not even walk by the station due to the
number of flowers, candles, and letters that people left.
The whole episode is still pretty fresh in my mind.
Captain Craig Warner, Continental |