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