Caymanian Captain David C. Black is an airline pilot working inthe United States. Though offduty at the time he was airbornewhen the tragic events of 11 September occurred, this is how herecalled his experiences of that day.
Former CALPilot's Account of 11 Sept.
Caymanian Captain David C. Black is an airline pilot working inthe United States. Though offduty at the time he was airbornewhen the tragic events of 11 September occurred, this is how herecalled his experiences of that day.
By Capt. David C.Black
US Airways A319/320/321PHL
I'm an Airbus Captain for US Airways, basedin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I would like to give my accountof the events of September 11, 2001 - as I saw it. I flew in andout of Boston the night before, where two of the hijacked planesoriginated. A little too close for comfort!
I was commuting home to Tampa on that crisp, clear Tuesday morning.We departed Philadelphia at 0800 - approximately the same timeas the ill-fated flights. Since the Captain that was flying theTampa flight was an old friend, and I hadn't seen him for a while,I decided to ride in the cockpit jump seat. Our flight departednormally and was routine.
We were somewhere over Virginia or North Carolina when we heardour air traffic controller say, "A commercial airliner justcrashed into the World Trade Center". We all thought we werehearing things, as did every other airplane on our frequency.
As you can imagine, the controller was inundated with requestsfor details from all of the flights in his sector. I immediatelysaid to my fellow crewmembers, "I'll bet anything that Osamabin Laden is to blame for this!". His hatred for the UnitedStates is nothing new.
A few minutes later, we heard that a second airliner had hit theother World Trade Center (WTC) tower! This unbelievable news wasfollowed shortly afterwards by Air Traffic Control (ATC) instructionsfor all aircraft - nationwide - to land at the nearest suitableairport, regardless of destination.
A national ground stop? This had never occurred - ever - in thehistory of US aviation. Then about a half an hour later, we heardabout the third crash at the Pentagon. We started to wonder, nervously,"Who was next?"
We were first told to land at Orlando, and then it was changedto Lake City, and finally Jacksonville, Florida. We landed uneventfullyin JAX and of course it was chaos on the ground there, as therewere at least 25 unscheduled arrivals that I know of, and no gatespace for all these airplanes. Despite these hardships, the peoplein JAX did a fine job.
As an off-duty pilot in the cockpit, I assisted the working crewduring what was a most difficult time. While many of you watchedin horror as television crews broadcast the horrors on live TV,we could only imagine the horrible reality that we faced whenwe landed.
Among other duties, I was asked to make the after landing announcementsto the passengers that informed them of the awful events of theday. It really was one of the hardest things I've ever had todo. Even as I was in the middle of telling the passengers aboutthe World Trade Center and Pentagon crashes, the news came inabout the fourth crash in Pennsylvania. I will never forget thelooks of horror on the faces of those passengers.
My wife Susan was supposed to be picking me up at Tampa's airport,but by now, I later learned, was at home following our flight'sprogress on the US Airways website, which provided her with realtime information that our flight had diverted to JAX.
She called ahead and reserved a rental car there (great thinking!).As it turned out, I didn't need it because as I was heading throughthe terminal towards the car rental counter, a US Airways Expresspilot whom I had never met walked up to me and asked where I wasgoing in such a hurry. I told him I was going to rent a car anddrive to TPA. He told me that he had already rented a car andwas also going to TPA! Talk about Divine providence! So... weboth drove down to TPA, and this also freed up another rentalcar for someone else. I was lucky - Jacksonville is not too farfrom Tampa. I know of countless other crewmembers who were strandedthousands of miles away from their homes for days on end.
On that fateful Tuesday, I later learned that many who know mein the Cayman Islands called my home immediately to find out whereI was or what I was doing - thank you, one and all, for your concern.
Who knows how or when or if - things will ever get backto 'normal'. one thing is for certain: Our world will never bethe same again. Take care.
PS: Pleaseconsider donating to the Red Cross - I did. As a survivor of HurricaneAndrew, I can personally vouch for their tireless efforts in timesof disaster. They can be reached at 1-800-HELP-NOW or: http://www.redcross.org.Do it now while you are thinking about it.
Captain David Blackjoined Cayman Airways (CAL) in 1974 as a DC-3 First Officer, andlater flew the DC-9, BAC 1-11 and Boeing 727 jets. He also workedin Flight Operations Management for CAL. He was hired by PiedmontAirlines in 1987, which was acquired by USAir. He flew the FokkerF28 and Boeing 737-300/400, and now flies the Airbus A319/320/321jets. He has logged over 14,000 flight hours.